Amid Chikungunya alert, VS' health system reforms back in limelight
Back in 2007, when the state accounted for more than half of India's suspected Chikungunya cases, VS, then 83, defied the complacency of his own health department and made a pivotal visit to Cherthala in Alappuzha, one of the worst-affected areas. His direct interaction with patients became a turning point.
'The department initially downplayed the outbreak,' recalled Dr Althaf A, epidemiologist and professor at the Government Medical College, Thiruvananthapuram.
'But VS insisted on seeing the situation first-hand. He questioned expert claims that Chikungunya didn't cause deaths, pointing out that patients with comorbidities were dying disproportionately in outbreak zones.'
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