Amid Chikungunya alert, VS' health system reforms back in limelight

WITH the World Health Organisation (WHO) having issued a stark warning on July 22 about the potential for a global Chikungunya epidemic, mirroring the early signs of a major outbreak two decades ago, health experts are reflecting on the critical role played by the then Kerala Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan in helping combat the disease and building a long-term system for infectious disease surveillance.

- UNNIKRISHNAN S @T'Puram

Back in 2007, when the state accounted for more than half of India's suspected Chikungunya cases, VS, then 83, defied the complacency of his own health department and made a pivotal visit to Cherthala in Alappuzha, one of the worst-affected areas. His direct interaction with patients became a turning point.

"The department initially downplayed the outbreak," recalled Dr Althaf A, epidemiologist and professor at the Government Medical College, Thiruvananthapuram.