Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will launch a year-long Aarogyajagratha campaign, being initiated by the Health Department, for the prevention and control of all infectious diseases across the State here on February 4.
The initiative will be taken forward with the cooperation of local self-governments and other departments and various agencies such as the Haritha Keralam Mission.
Addressing mediapersons here on Saturday, Health Minister K.K. Shylaja said that after the dengue epidemic in 2017, it was through Aarogyajagratha, a year-long sustained campaign at the grass roots, that the State could keep all infectious diseases under check in 2018.
All households
The programme has clear guidelines and preventive measures will be implemented with the coordination of health workers, local bodies and all related departments from ward level upwards. Health workers will bring the message of disease prevention to every single household and ensure that the public understand the importance of community participation in keeping epidemics at bay.
Even when the Health Department takes great pride in the manner in which it controlled the threats posed by Nipah and the deluge , Aarogyajagratha would have to be taken up a notch this year given the threats posed by the reporting of Zika from Rajasthan and Gujarat and Kysannur Forest Disease from Kerala-Karnataka border, Ms. Shylaja said.