Kozhikode sitting on a powder keg of health crisis

City witnessing mounting number of fever cases in recent years

Doctors and patients wear safety masks as a precautionary measure after the 'Nipah' virus outbreak, at a Medical college, in Kozhikode.

Are sanitation and hygiene drives in the reverse gear in Kozhikode? Waste management strategies of the local bodies, including the Kozhikode Corporation, seem to have failed to meet the specified standards in the last few years. The city, spread over 75 wards, has witnessed mounting number of cases of dengue fever, malaria, leptospirosis, chikungunya, Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B, diarrhoea and typhoid in the recent years.

Statistics with the Department of Health show that 1,354 dengue cases were reported in the district in 2017. The number of cases of malaria and leptospirosis were 179 and 161. Over 2.43 lakh fever cases were reported in 2015; 2.15 lakh cases in 2016; 3.31 lakh cases in 2017; and 64,600 cases in 2018 till March 2018.

 

In fact, in the 2016 Swachh Survekshan survey launched by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, under the aegis of the Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban), Kozhikode along with Thiruvananthapuram found a slot in the ‘acceleration required’ category.

On the list of 73 cities in the country, Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode came in positions 40 and 44 respectively.

Health care experts believe the statistics should work as a wake up call for the civic authorities. The city councillors have already warned of an imminent danger in the health sector during the monsoon.

Corporation area

The merger of erstwhile Elathur, Nallalam-Cheruvannur and Beypore panchayats with the Corporation in 2010 increased the area of the city from 84.23 sq.km to 118.2 sq.km, thus adding to the woes of the civic authorities. “Disposal of garbage accumulated at street corners and public places, including the Kozhikode bypass road, is irregular. A main problem is that garbage collecting vans of the corporation do not come regularly,” said councillor S.V. Syed Muhammad Shameel.

The outbreak of the rare Nipah virus infection at Perambra in rural Kozhikode, though not connected with sanitation, gave an opportunity to the Health Department to notice the fault lines in the health care system of the local bodies and the State government.

Mayor Thottathil Raveendran said a concerted effort was necessary to fight the battle against the yearly occurrence of diseases such as chikungunya, dengue fever, malaria, H1N1 (swine flu) and leptospirosis. The corporation was helpless at times when people deliberately dumped garbage on roadsides and slaughterhouse waste into waterbodies, he said. “We need to stop this at any cost before the situation goes out of control,” he added.