The state recorded 25 deaths till November 2015, which is highest among all states.
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THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The state government has decided to launch Public Health Protection Agency to coordinate the activities of various departments for tackling the serious health issues posed by communicable and infectious diseases which are increasing alarmingly in the state.
The agency will be launched in January as a New Year gift to the people of the state. The governing body of the agency will have top officials of departments of health, panchayat raj, urban affairs, social justice, education and Kerala Water Authority. It would be headed by the chief minister.
The agency will pave the way for exchange of ideas, manpower and expertise for carrying out disease control, prevention and academic programmes jointly.
The state once known for public health indicators comparable to the developed countries is now faced with serious challenges in public health sector because of recurring episodes of chikungunya, dengue, leptospirosis, Japanese Encephalitis. Each monsoon brings in a host of water-borne and vector borne diseases causing morbidity and mortality.
Increasing outbreak of water-borne diseases like diarrhoea, hepatitis, enteric fever were also causing alarm. Among the communicable diseases, vector-borne diseases like dengue, chickungunya, malaria along with leptospirosis have become major health challenges. The state recorded 25 deaths till November 2015, which is highest among all states.
Experts say life style diseases which are inversely proportionate to resistance to infections, has compounded the problem. Increase in life style 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.
However, barring knee jerk reaction at the time of such outbreaks, there has not been effective crisis management system in place to deal with the problem. But what is more scary at the moment is the huge inward migration of workers from outside the state.
Many of those coming from Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal are also bringing in dengue, malaria and even fatal Kala Azar or black fever.
Since it is not humanly possible to quarantine everyone, immediate measures are required to increase surveillance in and around labour camps and places of work to contain the infection locally. The proposed agency is expected to deal with this effectively.
( Source : deccan chronicle )
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