THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: It’s been 62 years since Kerala came into existence. Yet the public health sector continues to be regulated through the outdated and archaic Madras Public Health Act 1939 and Travancore Cochin Public Health Act 1955. Over the years many experts have demanded implementing a unified Act incorporating the needs of the sector.
But now things are changing. As per sources with the Health Department, the process of chalking out a Unified Kerala Public Health Act by combining the existing two Acts and by incorporating the needs of the current public health is on. Once the top honchos finish framing rules for the Kerala Clinical Establishments (Registration and Regulation) Act, the activity will ‘gather much more pace’, they said.
“A senior IAS officer was handling the paper works of drafting a Unified Kerala Public Health Act. But when the officer got transferred to another department, the very process got stalled. The said works could only be resumed after the framing of rules for the Kerala Clinical Establishments Act,” said a person close to the development.
Public health expert Dr B Ekbal told ‘Express’ though the legislation of a Unified Public Health Act is a long-term demand, it is yet to become a reality. According to him in the public health sector being operated by two archaic Acts the problems are many and it is high time the issue got addressed.
“The practice of operating the health sector with two archaic Acts has its own risks. With much unclarity in its implementation, the sector is facing a lot of confusion. Thus considering the emerging challenges, the authorities concerned should fast pace its efforts to legislate the Unified Public Health Act,” said Ekbal.
Even though a Draft Public Health Act was released in 2009 by ‘unifying and amending the existing laws related to public health’ no headway was made in enacting the same. It was followed by references to such an Act in Health Policies released during various times including in 2013.
“Take the case of how the state declared malaria as a notified disease as per the instruction that it receives from the Centre. Though malaria was declared as a notified disease through Travancore Cochin Public Health Act 1955, it didn’t form part of the Malabar district and the Kasaragod Taluk as it was notified under the Madras Public Health Act 1939.
In order to cover the whole state, a separate notification had to be issued for notifying it under the Madras Public Health Act,” said an officer with the Health Department.
At the same time, it is learnt that the state’s plan of coming up with a unified public health legislation is in line with the Centre’s plan of framing such an Act. It is also said that for public health alone a separate directorate would be is set up.