Alarming rise in lifestyle diseases, says Sivakumar

August 25, 2014 11:22 am | Updated 11:24 am IST - Kozhikode:

Health Minister V.S. Sivakumar testing himself on a body composition analyzar at the Government Homeo Medical College in Kozhikode after inaugurating the machine on Sunday. Photo: S. Ramesh Kurup

Health Minister V.S. Sivakumar testing himself on a body composition analyzar at the Government Homeo Medical College in Kozhikode after inaugurating the machine on Sunday. Photo: S. Ramesh Kurup

Steps to acquire the 15-acre land identified for a new research block for the Government Homoeopathy Medical College in Kozhikode will be speeded up, Health Minister V.S. Sivakumar has said.

Speaking after inaugurating a new Physiology and Biochemistry Lab at the Government Homoeopathy Medical College here on Sunday, Mr. Sivakumar said the State government was planning to lay the foundation stone for the new block shortly.

“A meeting of the higher officials in the department would be convened in the coming days to expedite the proceedings,” he said.

The project, according to him, had already received the administrative sanction. “Only the technical sanction is awaited now,” he said.

42 panchayats

The Minister, who maintained that homoeopathy dispensaries would be set up in 42 more panchayats in the State by next year, said such dispensaries had been started in as many as 110 panchayats during the last two years. “The State government has also created 440 new posts in the sector as part of this,” he said.

A new ENT treatment unit as well as a project to control various lifestyle diseases among the people was also inaugurated on the occasion.

Mr. Sivakumar said the government had decided to tap maximum potential of the homoeopathy medicine to check the spread of lifestyle diseases in the society.

Quoting figures from the result of a recent mass screening test conducted across the State for lifestyle diseases, the Minister said there was an alarming increase in the number of people with lifestyle diseases here. “A large majority of its victims are in their middle ages,” said the Minister, who expressed confidence that initiatives such as the new project inaugurated on the occasion, would help to a considerable extend to slow down the distressing situation.

The Health Minister said the Sukritham scheme planned by the State government to ensure free treatment for all the cancer patients in the State was expected to be launched in the first week of October.

Private participation

The scheme envisaged to be implemented with private participation was receiving “good response” from the people across the State, he said.

Mr. A. Pradeepkumar MLA presided over the function. M.K. Raghavan MP, district panchayat president K. Jameela and the college Principal E. Nisha Paul among others spoke.

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