Kerala, once touted as a public healthcare model for the whole world, is currently witnessing a huge outbreak of dengue and other deadly fevers which have affected a million people and killed 140 so far this year. On Tuesday, the Opposition staged a walkout in the State Assembly protesting against the callous attitude of the Congress-led Government towards the situation.
“Health Minister VS Sivakumar, who puts up boards describing his achievements all over the (Thiruvananthapuram) city, should now put up another board asking the fevers to quit Kerala,” senior CPI(M) member Elamaram Kareem jeered at the Government while moving notice seeking leave for an adjournment motion on the fever outbreak.
Unable to find an effective technique to control the fever outbreak, the authorities were forced to invite Dr Alfredo Vera Estrada, vector control expert from Cuba. Dr Estrada arrived in Thiruvananthapuram on Monday evening as a State guest. He would hold studies on the fever situation in order to prescribe preventive measures.
On Tuesday alone, as many as 18,911 people approached Government healthcare facilities in the State seeking treatment for various fevers. This number could be well over 30,000 if those who visited private hospitals were taken into account, sources said As many as 101 cases of dengue and 27 of jaundice were confirmed on Tuesday.
While Kareem wanted Sivakumar (Congress) to resign as Health Minister owning up the responsibility for the situation, VS Achuthanandan, Opposition leader in the House, said that people should come forward to cane Ministers who caused lapses in implementing preventive measures against the fevers.
Fever outbreaks have been reported from almost all the 14 districts in the State but Thiruvananthapuram, Kottayam, Pathanamthitta and Ernakulam are the worst hit, according to reports. Fevers had begun to spread even before the start of the monsoon but the authorities had allegedly failed to take timely action to control them.
Replying to Kareem's notice for the adjournment motion, Minister Sivakumar said that the fevers had hit close to 10 lakh people in the State since the start of the current year. He said 140 people had died of various fevers between January 1 and June 10. As many as 51 had died of Weil’s disease and one
death due to H1N1 also was reported, he said.
Sivakumar claimed that there had been no complaint from anybody about lack of treatment for fever and that there had never been lack of doctors to attend on patients. His act of stressing on his achievements in fever control instead of giving details of the situation invited noisy protests from the Opposition.
Intervening in the discussion, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy asked all the legislators to find out the shortcomings being felt at the public health centres in their respective constituencies and report them to the Government so that effective action could be taken.
The Government was ready to take any action the MlAs would propose to control the fever outbreak, he added. Meanwhile, Cuban expert Dr Estrada would start his studies on the fever situation in the State after discussions with the Government Health authorities.
He would visit the worst hit areas and the hospitals there as part of the mission. After the studies, he is expected to present a comprehensive report to the Government with his findings and suggestions of solution.
Dr Estrada, who had developed a biological agent to be sprayed into water for mosquito eradication, has reportedly scored high success rates in vector eradication and controlling diseases like dengue and malaria in several countries including Sri lanka where the conditions were said to be similar to those in Kerala.