Toning up the functioning of the Kozhikode city Corporation’s health office is a need of the hour, doctors have said.
The medical practitioners were participants at a symposium on preventive treatment methods, organised by the Indian Medical Association (IMA) Kozhikode Branch on Sunday.
The speakers pointed out that the Corporation was without a Health Officer and its health centres remained inactive for want of medical and paramedical staff even while the threat of diseases loomed large.
The symposium was organised in association with the District Task Force of the Health Department on the occasion of the formation of a district-level work force to tackle the spread of communicable diseases.
Former Additional District Medical Officer M.K. Appunni said the incidence of fever cases in Kozhikode district was very less compared to previous years as a result of the stringent preventive measures taken over the year.
Former chairperson of IMA women’s wing P.A. Lalitha said dengue fever, rat fever, and malaria had already been reported from various parts of the district even though the number of fever cases was less this year.
Sajith Kumar from Department of General Medicine of Kozhikode Medical College said there were clear indications that the mosquito-borne diseases might emerge as a major health problem in the coming days in Kozhikode.
Asma Rahim from Department of Preventive Medicine from Kozhikode Medical College said many drains were still blocked due to the road development and pipe-laying activities.
This in turn had led to water-logging, creating conditions suited for mosquitoes to breed. Dengue cases reported so far had been mostly from hilly parts of the district.
She advised women to wear full-sleeve dresses and use mosquito repellent creams while moving out to avoid mosquito bites during daytime. The two cases of cholera reported so far were from the region near Zamorin's Guruvayurappan College.
Dr. Asma said the health scene was better in the district’s rural belt. She stressed the need for functional urban health centres in the city to encourage people to report when they had fever.
The district-level work force consists of representatives of residents’ associations and social workers besides doctors.
It would coordinate the action programmes of various agencies to tackle monsoon diseases.
The work force was inaugurated by District Collector C.A. Latha in the presence of IMA district president S. Sasidharan, secretary Ajit Bhaskar, and Chairman of District Task Force, K.P. Balakrishnan.
