Keralam to adopt calendar-based infectious disease prevention strategy

The Keralam Health department has come up with the idea of an infectious disease prevention calendar that gives a clear idea of the seasonal trend of diseases, which will help plan disease prevention measures in the field.

The epidemic calendar, prepared for the first time by the department, was released by Health Minister K. Muraleedharan here on Friday (October 23, 2026).

The calendar has been prepared by the experts in the high-power committee constituted by the Health department for surveillance and prevention of infectious diseases.

Creating awareness

Health workers, including health inspectors, will visit houses in their respective allocated areas to create awareness. Mr. Muraleedharan said the previous government had effectively stopped all preventive field-level public health activities by issuing an order, which said that field-level workers are required to visit only geographic locations with high public health risks within their daily schedules. The government will soon be issuing a new GO revising this, he added.

Mr. Muraleedharan said that effective disease prevention and treatment required coordinated measures by the health and allied departments and the public, and added that the publication of the calendar was part of the department’s efforts to lead this coordinated action.

The calendar will be made available to the public and published on the Health department’s website.

Prevention measures

The scientific community has a clear understanding of the seasonal trends of various diseases, which makes it possible to take preventive measures. However, unless this knowledge is universally disseminated amongst the public, epidemic preparedness activities and disease prevention measures could be undermined.

The epidemic calendar gives a clear idea of the diseases relevant to Keralam every month, its symptoms, modes of transmission and the precautions that individuals and communities should take to prevent the disease.

It also lists the diseases that need special attention, such as rabies, Nipah, hepatitis E, Japanese encephalitis, West Nile fever, Kyasanur Forest Disease and the general health precautions that the public should maintain throughout the year.

S.S. Lal, chairman of the high-power committee, said the calendar aims to improve public awareness, strengthen disease prevention, and encourage people to seek medical care promptly when symptoms appear.

The calendar has been prepared on the basis of current information and it will be updated by the Health department as new scientific evidence emerges, he said.

Principal Secretary (Health) Sharmila Mary Joseph; Director of Medical Education K.V. Viswanathan; Director of Health Services V. Meenakshi and Shankar V.H., head of the Department of Medical Genetics at SAT Hospital were present.