There is a demand to strengthen the filariasis unit at the Government General Hospital, Kozhikode, in the wake of the shifting of the regional unit of the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), which has been operating in the city for long, to Thiruvananthapuram.
The move to shift the regional unit is part of the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare’s plan to have NCDC units in all State capitals. This is to ensure “coordinated action” and “activities” with the respective State governments. All the existing staff, including doctors and others, will be transferred.
The regional unit in Kozhikode had begun its operations as a filariasis research centre to address the needs of the patients suffering from the mosquito-borne parasitic infection. It also conducted surveys and studies and took up containment steps. Alappuzha too had a similar field research station as the district used to report a high number of filariasis patients at one time. These were the only such facilities in the State.
