The Hindu : Kerala / Thiruvananthapuram News : IMA joins hands with Health Department

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Saturday, May 10, 2008
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Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram

IMA joins hands with Health Department

Staff Reporter

To take up epidemic preparedness and control measures

Thiruvananthapuram: The Health Department will join hands with the Indian Medical Association (IMA) to take up pre-epidemic preparedness measures and in epidemic management across the State.

The representatives of IMA held detailed discussions with the government on Friday regarding this.

Accessing data from private hospitals during epidemics has always been a problem for the Health Department. The IMA has offered to help the department by providing accurate data from private hospitals so that a proper picture of the epidemic can be formed, enabling better management of the crisis.

The government has also agreed to include IMA representatives in all epidemic monitoring committees, right from ward-level sanitation committees. IMA pointed out that a proper information-education and communication (IEC) strategy is the need of the hour as public participation is a crucial factor in checking vector population.

IMA pointed out that given the peri-domestic nature of the Aedes mosquito species, rather than fogging and spraying, source reduction measures at the household-level would be a more effective strategy for controlling the mosquito population.

It suggested that by roping in the Education Department, awareness campaigns against infectious diseases be launched in schools and colleges.

The awareness campaign on infectious diseases would thus become part of the School Health initiative being launched through the National Rural Health Mission in the first week of June .

Apart from IMA representatives, Health Secretary Vishwas Mehta, NRHM Mission Director Dinesh Arora, Director of Health Services K. Shailaja and senior Health officials took part in the meeting.

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