Kerala - Alappuzha   

Special drugs control unit soon

ALAPPUZHA: Health Minister P.K. Sreemathy has said that a special drugs control unit will soon be set up under the aegis of the Directorate of Ayurveda in the State.

Inaugurating a State-level seminar on vector-borne diseases and their control organised by the Department of Indian System of Medicine (ISM) here on Saturday, the Minister said the procedures for establishing the unit were completed and that the unit would start functioning in the first week of March.

Ms. Sreemathy, who said the government was according top priority to development of Ayurveda and other Indian systems of medicine, announced that ayurveda dispensaries would be opened at all primary health centres (PHCs) depending on the availability of space.

Pointing out that differences of opinion among associations of ayurveda practitioners were hampering development of the system, the Minister said the impasse over promotions and recruitment of practitioners into this stream of medicine could be solved only after such differences were sorted out by the associations themselves.

The Minister lauded the contribution of Indian system of medicine practitioners to the State’s efforts to curb vector-borne diseases, particularly during the recent chikungunya outbreak and said the State was now well-prepared to take on any future outbreaks.

The seminar, which focussed on etiological, clinical and preventive aspects of vector-borne diseases and its ayurvedic aspects, included presentations on emerging and re-emerging viruses causing epidemics in Kerala, an action plan for prevention and control of such diseases and viruses and effects of environmental pollution on etiology of vector-borne diseases among others.

ISM in-charge director Anitha Jacob; joint director V.N. Gopinathan; K.S. Manoj, MP; K.C. Venugopal, MLA; P.P. Chittaranjan, Municipal Chairman; P.J. Sudharma, District Medical Officer for Ayurveda; and others spoke.

Staff Reporter writes from Pathanamthitta: Ms. Sreemathy said the government had taken emergency measures to address the immediate problems facing public healthcare centres in the State.

The Minister was inaugurating a newly constructed in-patient block at the Taluk Hospital at Mallappally on Saturday. She said steps had been take to extend advanced medical care to all major hospitals in a time-bound manner.

She said as many as 350 new posts were sanctioned at various primary health centres and community health centres. Joseph M.Puthusserry, MLA, presided over the inaugural function.

C.S. Sujatha, MP, inaugurated the ‘Jyotis Kendra’, a centre aimed at lending a helping hand to HIV-positive patients at the hospital on the occasion. P.K. Rajeev, PWD (Buildings) Executive Engineer, presented a report on the new 42-bed hospital block.

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