The State government has proposed the setting up of a Centre for Disease Control in the State, modelled on the U.S. Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, for the prevention and control of communicable and non-communicable diseases in the State.
The proposed K-CDC is expected to work alongside the Public Health Training Centre of the Health department in the capital.
A Memorandum of Understanding for preparing a detailed project report of the same was signed with the Indian Institute of Public Health (IIPH) here on Monday. The MoU was exchanged between the IIPH director Sridhar Kadam and Secretary, Medical Education, Ratan Kelkar, in the presence of Health Minister Veena George, Director of Medical Education Thomas Mathew, and other Health officials.
Ms. George said that it was during the time of the pandemic that the decision was taken to set up a CDC in the State on the lines of the CDC in Atlanta, U.S. Allocation for the same had been made in the 2021 budget, and a Special Officer had been appointed. All procedures would be expedited to make K-CDC a reality, Ms. George claimed in a statement here.
Health protection, prediction of infectious disease outbreaks, public health data management, evidence-based health policy recommendations, support to research institutions, developing the One Health platform for the management of health issues, including infectious diseases and a sustainable working model of the health system are the avowed goals of the proposed K-CDC.
K-CDC’s motto would be “Think Global and Act Regional”. Satellite centres of the proposed institution would be set up in many parts of the State for data coordination from all regions of the State. It will also function as the centre for coordinating emergency response during disasters, outbreaks and other natural disasters too, it is hoped.
