Thiruvananthapuram: The state government will constitute a high-level committee of health experts to formulate a comprehensive strategy for the prevention and control of seasonal epidemics, health minister K Muraleedharan said on Tuesday.
Addressing a press conference, the minister said the committee will be chaired by Dr S S Lal, with health department principal secretary Dr Sharmila Mary Joseph as coordinator and Dr Sreejith N Kumar as convener. The panel will include experts from the government and private healthcare sectors, along with representatives from the Aush, animal husbandry and food safety departments.
The committee will prepare a calendar of seasonal epidemics and recommend preventive measures to strengthen the state's disease surveillance and response systems. District-level outbreak monitoring units and action committees will be constituted, and rapid response teams will be deployed when required. Preventive measures will be implemented down to the panchayat level through coordinated efforts involving the health, local self-government and animal husbandry departments.
Stressing the need for a multi-sectoral approach, the minister said all stakeholders must work together to contain infectious diseases. “The committee's role is to study the situation and provide recommendations to the government,” he said.
Muraleedharan attributed delays in pre-monsoon sanitation drives to the election period and said the government had directed authorities to shut unhygienic food establishments and step up inspections of bottled drinking water. He assured that adequate stocks of essential medicines were available across the state.
Regarding Shigella, the minister said five deaths have been reported from Malappuram, Kozhikode and Thrissur districts. Kozhikode remains the worst-affected district, recording 74 cases this year, including 22 reported this month alone.
In Thrissur, food safety officials have launched an inspection drive across food outlets following the death of a 43-year-old man from Kodakara. He died on Saturday, though laboratory confirmation of Shigella infection came only on Tuesday. Health department sources said a birthday party had been held at the deceased's home, and food was ordered from outside.
Officials conducted 60 inspections across eateries in the Thrissur, Chalakkudy, Nattika and Irinjalakuda circles, slapping fines on nine establishments found to have committed major violations. Awareness programmes are being jointly conducted by health and food safety officials at hotels, catering units, schools and anganwadis.
Meanwhile, two children from Mangalam near Wadakkanchery who had tested positive for Shigella have been discharged after their condition improved. Authorities have initiated preventive measures in the area, including super-chlorination of water sources. Results of water samples collected from Mangalam are yet to be received.
