THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: After a lull, the Kerala Information on Residents’ Arogyam Network (KIRAN) survey has become a hot topic of discussion again. This time, the interest in the survey was triggered by Shashi Tharoor, MP, after he shared a report on the collaboration of the state health department and the Achutha Menon Centre for Health Science Studies (AMCHSS) with the Canada-based Population Health Research Institute (PHRI).
The overseas agency conducts research on various health issues and spearheads large clinical trials, population health studies and provides epidemiology expertise. AMCHSS functions under the Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology.
According to Tharoor, though the LDF slammed the then UDF government for its plan to bring in an external agency, the former revived the same and carried out the survey after coming to power. Meanwhile, the health department said the report is an attempt to trigger unwanted controversy. The survey has been temporarily suspended, the department clarified.“PHRI couldn’t involve in the project as the application for the same was rejected by the health ministry’s screening committee. Thus there was no such collaboration or data sharing,” said a health department official.
Sources said 90% of the survey has been completed and will soon enter the subsequent stages, like evaluation and interpretation. While the survey details remain with AMCHSS, the data collected in this regard is stored with the State Data Centre. TNIE, in 2017, had reported about the LDF government’s plan to bring in PHRI again. The then health secretary Rajeev Sadanandan himself substantiated it by saying that the government asked AMCHSS to seek the assistance of an agency that has the potential to hold an international epidemiological survey.
What is KIRAN survey?
Introduced in 2011, the KIRAN survey intended to determine the dietary habits, physical activity, lifestyle, disease pattern and treatment modalities by covering 10 lakh people randomly.