KSSP to take up campaigns on public health in Keralam

The Kerala Sasthra Sahitya Parishad (KSSP) has decided to take up public campaigns and discussions to highlight some of the changing trends in the public health sector in the State. Ahead of this, a seminar was held in Kozhikode on Sunday (October 18, 2026).

K.P. Aravindan, public health expert, opened the event by delivering a talk on the private and foreign investments in the health sector in Keralam and the alternatives possible. T.P. Mubarack Sani, chairperson of the KSSP subject committee on health, spoke on insurance schemes and public health. Academic and author T.P. Kunhikannan presided over the event.

The participants at the seminar pointed out that high morbidity, increase in lifestyle diseases, and the rise in population of senior citizens were leading to high medical treatment costs in Keralam. Private finance capital was buying small and big hospitals eyeing the people’s health seeking behaviour and their willingness to spend more money on healthcare needs. However, they claimed that the Union government, which was supposed to protect the people’s interests, was serving the needs of the finance capital that was investing heavily in sectors such as health insurance, pharmaceuticals, labs, medical equipment, and hospitals. The KSSP activists also claimed that the government machinery had failed to ensure availability and quality of essential drugs as well.