Authors
V Mohanan Nair1, Althaf A2, Benny PV3, Muhammed Shaffi4, S Vasudevan5, K Rajamohanan Pillai6, VP Paily S7, Sreejith N Kumar8, SS Lal9, Muhammed Asheel10, Sandeep K10, Zuhail Sainudeen10, Santhosh Kumar GR11, Asha KP12, Mini SS13, Libu GK14
1Former Director Indian Institute of Diabetes, Trivandrum.
2Associate Professor, Department of Community Medicine, Medical College Trivandrum.
3Associate Professor of Community Medicine, Sree Gokulam Medical College, Venjaramoodu, Trivandrum.
4Assistant Professor, Global Institute of Public Health, Ananthapuri Hospitals, Thiruvananthapuram.
5Associate Editor, IMA, Kerala Medical Journal & Professor of Urology, Medical College, Trivandrum.
6Professor, Department of Pediatrics, Medical College Trivandrum.
7Senior Gynaecologist, Rajagiri Hospital, Aluva.
8President, IMA, Kerala State Branch.
9TB Director, Global HIV & TB Program, PATH, Washington DC.
10Indian Medical Association.
11Convenor, IMA Film Club.
12Assistant Professor, Department of Community Medicine TMC Alappuzha.
13Assistant Professor, Department of Community Medicine, Government Medical College, Parippally, Kollam.
14Assistant Professor Community Medicine Medical College Trivandrum.
Abstract
The Preamble to the Constitution of the World Health Organization, as adopted by the International Health Conference, 1946; defines Health as a state of complete physical, mental and social wellbeing and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. Kerala has achieved good health indicators compared to other Indian states and even some of the developed countries. However Kerala’s performance lags behind many countries in terms of reducing MMR and IMR. While the IMR of Kerala is better than most Indian states, the reduction in the rate has stagnated for the last two decades. The health sector in Kerala is now facing many challenges, which are driven by declining investments in the public health sector and inadequate attention to the social determinants of health. On 8th November 2014, at its 57th Annual Conference at Kovalam, Trivandrum India, the Indian Medical Association Kerala State branch accepted adopted and proclaimed a Citizens Health Charter along with ‘Kerala Health: 2025 – A Road Map’ specifying the goals and effective strategies to achieve them by 2025. The charter calls for an acceptable level of health care for all, which can be attained by the year 2025 through an optimal use of the existing and available resources, an evidence based State health policy, accepting the role of social determinants of health and to ensure the provision of safe drinking water and sanitation; safe and healthy food; nutrition and housing; healthy working and environmental conditions; health education and information and gender equality. The charter reiterates that State has the responsibility to mobilize additional resources that may well be devoted to health and social development of the state.