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Kerala's Citizen-First Approach To Fighting COVID-19 -Isaac Thomas Isaac

-NDTV

"Social Unity amid Physical Distancing" is the slogan of Kerala in the war against COVID-19. It was coined after some elements began to use measures for social distancing to justify caste pollution distance norms. Kerala is harnessing its abundant social capital to overcome the limited fiscal space in which state governments are forced to operate in quasi-federal India. Led by a state government with commitment and the actualization of synergies between local governments and civic society, the outcome has been yet another marvellous social intervention for which Kerala is famous. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has been leading from the front, taking inputs from the different vertical and horizontal agencies and responding to the everyday challenges through a televised, live interaction with the press in the evenings. So there is no confusion and there is clear direction for action.

Of course, at the front line is Kerala's health department headed by Health Minister K K Shailaja Teacher. Kerala has the largest and most efficient public health system and the fight against coronavirus once more underlines how an insurance-based private health system would be totally inadequate to meet this sort of challenge. Kerala's public health system consists of 6,000 doctors, 9,000 nurses and another 15,000 health workers. Then there is a second line of health workers like Asha workers, Kudumbasree health volunteers, Anganwadi workers, hospital development committee members, palliative volunteers and other health activists. In the recent years, there has been an investment of around 4,000 crores in hospital buildings (many which are still ongoing) and medical equipment and a significant addition to the number of medical personnel. The system has also been seasoned with the success of fighting the Nipah outbreak in the recent past.

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