{"title":"Reflections on the Kerala Public Health Act 2023: A response to Dr Karpagam’s commentary","authors":"B. Fernandez, Veetilakath Jithesh, Anish Ts","doi":"10.20529/ijme.2024.043","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"In this response, we seek to analyse and rebut the observations of Karpagam S using an understanding of the Kerala Health system and the general purpose of the Kerala Public Health Act (KPHA). The KPHA was crafted with a greater focus on a one-health and preventive approach. It does not seek to interfere in an individual’s preferred choice of treatment, except in the case of public health emergencies. KPHA is not a standalone document, but a supporting tool to the existing Kerala Health Policy and various other health policies and programmes instrumental in improving the health and quality of life of the people of the State. The KPHA is intended to be an enforcement tool for legal provisions to ensure welfare maximisation of the society at large, and thus detailed discussions regarding actions to be taken beyond these legal provisions do not fall within the purview of the Act.","PeriodicalId":35523,"journal":{"name":"Indian journal of medical ethics","volume":" 20","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0000,"publicationDate":"2024-07-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"1","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Indian journal of medical ethics","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.20529/ijme.2024.043","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"Medicine","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 1
Abstract
In this response, we seek to analyse and rebut the observations of Karpagam S using an understanding of the Kerala Health system and the general purpose of the Kerala Public Health Act (KPHA). The KPHA was crafted with a greater focus on a one-health and preventive approach. It does not seek to interfere in an individual’s preferred choice of treatment, except in the case of public health emergencies. KPHA is not a standalone document, but a supporting tool to the existing Kerala Health Policy and various other health policies and programmes instrumental in improving the health and quality of life of the people of the State. The KPHA is intended to be an enforcement tool for legal provisions to ensure welfare maximisation of the society at large, and thus detailed discussions regarding actions to be taken beyond these legal provisions do not fall within the purview of the Act.
期刊介绍:
The Indian Journal of Medical Ethics (formerly Issues in Medical Ethics) is a platform for discussion on health care ethics with special reference to the problems of developing countries like India. It hopes to involve all cadres of, and beneficiaries from, this system, and strengthen the hands of those with ethical values and concern for the under-privileged. The journal is owned and published by the Forum for Medical Ethics Society, a not-for-profit, voluntary organisation. The FMES was born out of an effort by a group of concerned doctors to focus attention on the need for ethical norms and practices in health care.