Kerala ramps up pre-monsoon health preparedness to combat infectious diseases

With seasonal infectious disease outbreaks expected to increase, the Kerala government has instructed Health authorities to ensure that pre-monsoon preparedness activities are carried out without any disruption, Health Minister K. Muraleedharan said on Monday.

He said the Director of Health Services (DHS) and the Director of Medical Education (DME) have been asked to ensure that all hospitals have necessary stocks of medicines, equipment and other essential consumables so that patients who throng public hospitals are not left in a difficult situation.

He was speaking at a Meet the Press program organized by Press Club Thiruvananthapuram.

Mr. Muraleedharan said government medical college hospitals have been asked to make necessary arrangements to ensure that “systemic malfunctions” do not lead to disruption of surgeries in hospitals. He also added that all hospitals have been instructed to strictly follow surgical protocols.

The Health Minister also asked all hospital authorities to maintain strict hygiene and infection control practices in hospitals to ensure that hospitals do not become a source of infection. Mr Muraleedharan said it was “not acceptable” for patients to have to lie on the floor in government hospitals and that the government would make necessary arrangements so that hospitals do not have to bed patients on the floor.

Treatment facilities in primary health care centers will be increased to prevent unnecessary referrals to MCHs, which causes overcrowding in tertiary care.

new posts

He said that the government has decided to create new positions of doctors and auxiliary staff when necessary and resort to redeployment of staff as necessary to equalize staff needs in all institutions.

“It is UDF’s policy to open new medical colleges and the government plans to continue working on two medical colleges in Haripad and Thiruvananthapuram, the proposals which the previous government had set aside,” he said. He added that there were other medical colleges like Mananthavady in Wayanad, where development was impossible as around 20 acres of forest land surrounded the hospital.

“Selection of site for Wayanad medical college was done in an unscientific manner and we will need the cooperation of the Forest department for the expansion work to proceed,” said Mr. Muraleedharan.

AIIMS request

He said the state’s “long-standing and legitimate” demand for an institution similar to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences would be taken forward.

“The State government will inform the Center that no specific information has been given about the location of AIIMS in Kerala and the area deemed suitable by the Center for AIIMS will be accepted by the State government. The previous government had suppressed the State’s demand for AIIMS but was firm on a particular location of its choice,” Mr. Muraleedharan stated.

Regarding a patient’s complaint of medical negligence against Kozhenchery district hospital, Mr. Muraleedharan said he received a “vague” report from the DMO on how the incident took place or who might be responsible.

The complaint was lodged by a 62-year-old woman who claimed that she recently had to undergo surgery to remove part of the needle that broke and remained inside her when she was given an injection at Kozhenchery hospital in 2023.

Mr Muraleedharan said he was not ready to accept the DMO’s report “at face value” and was seeking more details about the incident.