THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala, on Thursday, September 24, was awarded by the United Nations Organisation (UNO) for its “outstanding contribution” towards controlling and preventing Non-Communicable Diseases (NCD). The award, known as The UN Interagency Task Force Award, was presented by Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General, World Health Organisation (WHO).
K K Shailaja, Minister of Health, Government of Kerala, congratulated the health workers of the state and dedicated the award to their continuous support and hard work. It recognizes the efforts of the state in all the aspects for the control and fight against NCD, mental health and related aspects of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). This is the first time that Kerala has won this annual award.
Shailaja said that the state has arranged all the facilities beginning from basic Public Health Centres (PHC) to hospitals at all levels to treat these types of diseases. She also lauded the efforts of the state government in controlling COVID-19 mortality rate, due to the focus on NCDs.
Government of Kerala said that this award is the recognition of the state’s preparedness in treating lifestyle diseases and free services and treatment given to a majority of the state’s population. In addition to this, a state-of-the-art lung disease control program, cancer treatment program and paralysis control program, were also considered for the award. Shailaja has also been awarded by the UN for her efforts to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic. She was also one of world leaders who were invited by UN to speak on the occasion of World Pubic Service Day.