| Kerala's poor health exposed | |||
|
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| The
State which was once hailed internationally as a model in healthcare
has now lapsed into a condition where killer fevers are creating panic.
|
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| The
public health care system in the State has gone for a toss before and
after the disease, experts say. For a State that had garnered much
praise for its achievements in the field of health by having achieved
almost all the parameters set by competent authorities, the present
situation may have come as a surprise. |
|||
| But
as experts point out that the health index is a poor indicator of the
state of public health in Kerala. Public health in the State is lagging
behind in many aspects, with authorities often at their wits' end on
queries related to details. |
|||
| "I
believe that this epidemic is going to spread faster and more
dangerously into even rural areas. The Government is wrong-footed and
the measures taken to curb the epidemic now are inadequate," said PK
Sivaraman, former additional director of Health Services. |
|||
| Sivaraman,
who has served at the helm of the Health Department, is sure that the
lack of a Public Health Act is affecting the State's public health
sector adversely. "The law that is now in practice is the
Travancore-Cochin Public Health Act, which was formed before
Independence. The move by the department to enact a new provision was
thwarted many times," said Sivaraman. |
|||
| Besides
the weaknesses in the system, the dismal record in keeping the
environment clean and hygienic is seen as a key factor for the
incidence of epidemics. The water-bound Cherthala area of Alappuzha
district has long been known for the prevalence of mosquito borne
diseases like filariasis. |
|||
| Located
on the banks of the Vembanad lake, small canals, inlets and muddy
pools, whose brackish and stilted water is carpeted with African weeds,
the area is a fertile breeding ground for mosquitoes, tackling which
has been a major health task for decades. |
|||
| "In
places like Alappuzha, which have huge water bodies, the only possible
method of control is biological check. Only in other places, methods
like fogging will be successful," he said. |
|||
| "The
State must have learnt from the prevention drive we had undertaken in
2003, when dengue had spread throughout the State. But chickungunya is
more dangerous as mosquitoes spread faster," said the former additional
director. |
|||
| The
callous attitude towards public health is also evident from the way the
State Virology Institute lab in Alappuzha was handled by the
Government, alleges the former officer. |
|||
| "About
Rs 10 million was sanctioned by the Centre then, but the time-lag of
the department made the amount lapse, even before the amount could be
transferred to the bank," he added. |
|||
| As
in most cases, lack of political will in handling the situation was
very much in evidence. Most of the time, the Health officers are left
perplexed with no law or penal action available while handling the
individuals, who are behind the contamination of local areas. |
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| Also, over the years, Primary Health Centres (PHCs) in the State had grown weak with their main job being that of referring the patients to taluk or district hospitals, instead of providing curative support at the village level itself. | |||
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"Ours is a battle not for wealth or for power.
It is a battle for freedom. It is a battle for the reclamation of human personality."
- Dr BR Ambedkar
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