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.
The centre in Kozhikode was later renamed as the National Institute of Communicable Diseases and thereafter as the NCDC regional unit. Experts from the unit were involved in conducting studies and research into the outbreak of other infectious diseases in Malabar districts too. A large number of filariasis patients depended on the unit for their treatment. Sources said that people from districts such as Malappuram, Wayanad, Kannur, Kasaragod, and Kozhikode regularly visit the unit.
Constructions under way
With the Centre’s latest move to have regional NCDC units in State capitals, the Alappuzha station has already been shifted. Construction works for the State unit are going on at Iranimuttam in Thiruvananthapuram, where the State government has provided land for the purpose.
M.K. Shoukath Ali, former adviser, Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, who earlier headed the NCDC regional unit in Kozhikode, told The Hindu on Tuesday that the State government could take steps to retain the filariasis treatment facility in the city to help the patients. “The Government General Hospital on Kozhikode beach has a filariasis treatment unit. The government could take steps to strengthen it also,” he suggested.
Meanwhile, M.K. Raghavan, Kozhikode MP, has urged the Centre to retain the regional unit here in view of the reporting of filariasis cases among migrant labourers. Mr. Raghavan pointed out that at least a sub-centre should function from Kozhikode against the backdrop of recurring instances of infectious diseases outbreaks here.
