THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The maiden budget speech of Finance Minister K N Balagopal was vocal about the need to improve treatment facilities for children at a time health experts are anticipating a third wave of Covid. The budget gave due importance to improve the bed strength in paediatric ICU wards in medical college and district hospitals. The rise in the number of pregnant women and newborns infected by Covid during the second have already stretched the capacities of these hospitals.
TNIE has also reported on the rising Covid infection among newborn babies in the second wave. “There is a need to strengthen all paediatric facilities — be it beds or equipment. The children are vulnerable in the third wave but it will be mild,” said Dr A Santhosh Kumar, former deputy superintendent of Sree Avittam Thirunal Hospital Hospital and a member of the Lancet-Covid India Children’s project to develop protocol when children are affected. According to him, a serious Covid infection during the later stages of pregnancy would result in longer stay in hospitals.
“We have seen more pregnant women getting Covid pneumonia. Their delivery will be advanced and the children born will be underweight. A baby born with less than a kilogram in weight will have to spend around one month in the hospital,” he said.
Fund allocations
For setting up 10-bed isolation wards for contagious diseases in all community health centres, taluk, district and general hospitals
For establishing a separate block in MCHs in T’Puram and Kozhikode for managing contagious diseases
For a 150-tonne oxygen plant to address any shortages in the future
CDC-MODEL MEDICAL RESEARCH ORGANISATION
the budget has announced the starting of a medical research organisation modelled after the Centre for Disease Control (CDC) in the USA, that can also mitigate contagious diseases
The institution will be envisaged as a centre of excellence capable of providing multi-disciplinary skills in controlling contagious diseases.
According to health experts, the centre will meet its stated goal only if it has the required autonomy.
Dr K P Aravindan, a leading pathologist and member of the expert panel on Covid-19, said it should function as an autonomous body that can make impartial observations of the government’s action.
Dr V Ramankutty, a health economist and epidemiologist, said the effective functioning of CDC requires legislation to deal with data collection and its safeguards.