Increase in lifestyle diseases has lowered resistance of people
Picture used for representational purpose. (Photo: DC/File)
Thiruvanthapuram: With infectious diseases debilitating and killing people in hundreds in a state which not long ago boasted of health indicators comparable to the developed countries, questions are being raised about the callousness and misplaced priorities of the Health Department.
Experts say at a time when infectious diseases are killing people ruthlessly like terrorists, instead of deploying specially trained commandos to deal with life-threatening enemy, the department is banking on an army, which lacks professionalism, orientation, commitment and accountability. This, when fever, dengue, chikungunya, leptospirosis, hepatitis A and B, malaria and scrub typhus have all increased manifold.
Health Minister V S Sivakumar makes lofty statements about pumping in crores of rupees for medicines. Experts attribute the recurring and growing cases of communicable diseases to the failure to lay more focus on surveillance and preventive measures.
The increase in lifestyle diseases including high cholesterol, sugar levels and blood pressure had lowered the resistance of people across the state resulting in increasing morbidity and mortality due to fever.
Various committees in the past including Twelfth Five Year Plan (2012-17) working group report on medical and public health had recommended setting up of an exclusive public health cadre and professionally qualified leadership for public health sector.
“We definitely need a group of people trained in public health management. They should be given full mandate to implement disease prevention and control programmes. We also need rapid response teams considering the recurrence of communicable diseases,’’ said Dr V Ramankutty at Achutha Menon Centre for Health Sciences.
But not many doctors are willing to work in public health sector. There are no incentives for doctors who want to opt for public health. Even the Central Government has tied up with Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Atlanta, for raising an exclusive trained public health cadre.
Communicable disease prevention expert Thomas Mathew says there are manpower and management issues involved in implementing prevention programmes. “Not only public health officials but operational experts, who are good at managing, organising such activities and motivating the ground staff are needed. This is a full-fledged war. Either you defeat the enemy or perish,’’ said Dr Mathew.
The current system has mainly regular doctors handling administrative responsibilities of DMO, DHS or control programmes. Most of them are specialists or general medics and have limited experience in operational and management issues.
Though the health department had constituted an exclusive administrative cadre for non-specialist doctors, none is trained in public health issues. Even Accredited Social Health Activists, responsible for ground-level disease prevention, are burdened with other programmes.
What is more scary is the huge inward migration of workers. Many of those from Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha and West Bengal are also bringing in dengue, malaria and even fatal Kala Azar or black fever. “You cannot quarantine everyone. Immediate measures are required to increase surveillance in and around labour camps and places of work,’’ said Dr Mathew, adding that the State needed a zero tolerance policy towards communicable diseases.
( Source : dc )
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