Since the onset of monsoon, fever has claimed more than a hundred lives in Kerala.
Come the rains and vector-borne diseases start playing havoc in the state. One gets to see the death toll rising on a daily basis. From dengue to chikungunya to leptospirosis and tomato fever—you name and it and Kerala has it.
According to health department, various types of fever have affected over 12 lakh people since the onset of monsoon. This includes dengue, swine flu and chikungunya. The worst affected districts this year are Thiruvananthapuram, Kozhikode, Kottayam, Kollam, Palakkad and Malappuram. There are long queues in front of every public hospital, while most private hospitals have stopped taking admissions.
Along with the fever starts the blame game. The health department blames the local self government (LSG), LSG blames the finance department and finance department indirectly blames the health and LSG for under-utilisation of funds.
"The local bodies are the main culprits as they have failed miserably with the waste disposal system. On the other hand, the health department has found itself incapable of dealing with the situation. Equally responsible is the finance department which has been consistently cutting down the funds for the public health sector,’’ said Dr Joy Elamakkara, a health activist.
According to him, the root cause of this crisis was a change in the attitude towards public health. The state's expenditure on medical and public healthcare services is a mere seven per cent now, whereas it was around 10 per cent even in the 70s, he pointed out.
The peculiar geography of the state, with its large number of water bodies, and crop patterns like rubber plantations, are considered triggers for the outbreak. The rubber cups or the half-coconut shells used by rubber growers to collect milk from the trees become a breeding ground for mosquitoes during rainy days.
As the situation spiralled out of control, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan appealed to the people to come out in large numbers to help the local bodies in the cleaning drive.
"The time has come for the people of the state to unite and help the government in checking the fever outbreak. All political parties, local body representatives, cultural and social leaders, resident associations, clubs and other organisations should unite in the cleaning drive which should be carried out on a war footing," said the chief minister.
