Thiruvananthapuram: An International Centre for Virology, comprehensive scheme for modernising drug storage facilities and Rs 100 crore for the Pariyaram Medical College are among the major announcements concerning health sector in the Budget.
The decision to set up international virology centre by integrating all the existing virology units is aimed at equipping the public health care system to deal with recurring communicable diseases in the test.
In the absence of state of the art centres, the state often has to bank on National Institute of Virology Pune, Centre for Research in Medical Entomology Madurai and Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology for testing samples.
The problem becomes acute especially during an epidemic situation triggered due to outbreak of infectious diseases like Chikunguya, Leptospirosis and Japanese Encephalitis.
