CM urges people to be on alert against amoebic fever

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has urged the people to be on alert against the amoebic meningoencephalitis cases being reported from various parts of the State.

Opening a new building for the Government Taluk Hospital at Feroke in Kozhikode district on Sunday (August 31, 2025), he said that everyone should take steps to chlorinate wells and overhead water tanks on their residential premises. The infection-causing amoeba is found in waterbodies. Steps had been taken to chlorinate all wells on August 30 and August 31. Mr. Vijayan said that the development works being initiated in the public healthcare sector were aimed at ensuring social justice.

The new hospital building is spread over one-and-a-half acres, with ₹23.5 crore spent on its construction. It houses operation theatres, laboratories, speciality treatment facilities, an oxygen plant, a trauma care unit, and an emergency care wing. The hospital has 103 beds for inpatient care. Residents of Feroke and Ramanattukara municipalities, Kadalundi grama panchayat, and areas such as Cheruvannur and Beypore in the Kozhikode Corporation, along with those from Vazhayur, Chelembra, Cherukavu, and Vallikkunnu grama panchayats in Malappuram, depend on the hospital for treatment.

Health Minister Veena George said at the event that Kerala ranked among the top States in terms of spending on free medical treatment. She added that dialysis units were being set up in all government taluk hospitals, with work completed in 97 of them.