About the Project

Independent Review of National Vector Borne Disease Control Program

Seven states were selected for the independent evaluation of the national vector borne disease control program with particular reference to malaria. Gujarat and Chhattisgarh states were selected from the group of EMCP (Enhanced Malaria Control Project) states, Haryana, Karnataka and Kerala were selected from the group of non-EMCP states and Sikkim and Meghalaya were selected from the group of north-Eastern states. The report of the review was submitted to the directorate of national vector borne disease control program at New Delhi. The major recommendations of the review were to provide maximum efforts to control malaria in those states where malaria continues to be a major public health problem. The states of Orissa, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and West Bengal in the East and Karnataka state in the south contributed to more than 50% of the total malaria cases in the country in the year 2002. Proportion of Plasmodium Falciparum cases was increasing all over the country. There was a need to strengthen the inter sector coordination to control the malaria situation in the country. Biological control like fish hatcheries were reported to be effective in many areas. Expanding such biological control to other areas is likely to have great impact in the control of malaria. In addition to the Achutha Menon Centre for Health Science Studies, researchers from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences Mumbai and two external full time consultants were members of the evaluation team. This review was funded by the directorate of national vector borne disease control program of the government of India.

Team Members:

Principal Investigator:
Dr K R Thankappan
Additional Professor and Head,
Achutha Menon Centre for Health Science Studies,
Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology, Trivandrum

Co-Investigators:
Prof.CAK Yesudian
Professor and Head,
Health Services Department,
Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai

Dr. P. Sankara Sarma
Achutha Menon Centre for Health Science Studies
Thiruvananthapuram

Prof . Oommen Philip
Foundation for Health Management
Thiruvananthapuram

Prof. P Ramachandran
Valmar International, Mumbai

Prof. A Joseph
Kerala Institute of Medical Science
Thiruvananthapuram

Situational Analysis of MTP Services in Kerala: Provider Perspectives

This was a part of a multi-centric study in six states of India under the aegis of the Abortion Assessment Project of India, co-ordinated by Centre for Enquiry into Health and Allied Themes (CEHAT), Mumbai. The study was an attempt to assess and analyze abortion services in Kerala from a providers' perspective, including organization, management, facilities, technology, registration, training certification and utilization in the public and private sector. A cross sectional survey carried out in two districts of the Kerala covered 85 health institutions and 107 abortion providers. In addition several case studies were also conducted to understand the quality of services and to identify problems related to abortion services. A need to streamline the process of site registration, improve the quality of services in the public sector by proper referral from lower level institutions and equipping these with infrastructure and staff to deal with first trimester abortions was identified as crucial.

Team Members:

Dr. Mala Ramanathan
Achutha Menon Centre for Health Science Studies
Thiruvananthapuram

Dr. P.Sankara Sarma
Achutha Menon Centre for Health Science Studies
Thiruvananthapuram

Mr. Krishna Kumar CS
Achutha Menon Centre for Health Science Studies.
Thiruvananthapuram