From bouquets to brickbats: CPIM-led LDF faces heat over medical negligence just ahead of polls

Thiruvananthapuram: If the ruling CPIM-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) was highlighting the achievements in the health sector during the 2021 assembly elections, five years down the line the LDF is struggling to defend the back to back medical negligence that even claimed many lives and caused permanent disabilities to children.

Public health being a key issue affecting the citizens, the lapses in the sector have become a hot topic in the poll-bound state.

By containing the spread of Nipah outbreaks and keeping Covid-19 death rates low through early detection, the state health sector had received national and international attention and recognition during the term of the previous left-front government - the first Pinarayi Vijayan government.

Then health minister K K Shailaja was widely appreciated for leading the health sector from the front at the time of crisis situations like the Nipah outbreak in 2018 and giving the required moral support to doctors and health workers.