IMA in Kerala to draw up plan to tackle viral diseases

Thiruvananthapuram: In view of growing concern over Ebola virus, which has claimed over 4,000 lives worldwide, Indian Medical Association here is working on a training and awareness programme for its members on tackling outbreak of various viral diseases.

The programme is envisaged to help medical fraternity in the state to stay updated on the emerging and re-emerging viral diseases and equip them to face emergencies, IMA's Kerala chapter members said.

The scientific session of the 57th state conference of IMA Kerala, scheduled to be held here from November 7 to 9, will discuss the matter and set a framework of the programme, IMA Kerala secretary A V Jayakrishnan said.

"We are planning a comprehensive training and awareness programme which will give doctors a clear picture about the threat of various emerging and re-emerging viral diseases. It will also make them equip to tackle such diseases during the time of emergencies," he told PTI.

Renowned virologist, Dr Robert Gallo will be leading the discussions in this regard during the annual conference, he said.

"Our doctors may have only a vague picture about many new viral diseases as they do not have a first-hand knowledge about them. Infections like Ebola may have originated and spread in other parts of the globe. But, we cannot dismiss chances of its outbreak anywhere," he said.

Though Kerala is far ahead in terms of treatment of viral diseases, a better system should be evolved to detect the diseases at the entry point itself, he said.

"The treatment facility and health standards in the state is of high standard. But we should work on the early detection and prevention of such outbreaks at the entry point itself. An inter-department co-ordination of various government agencies along with the health department is inevitable for it," Jayakrishnan said.