Thiruvananthapuram: For years, Kerala’s public health system has been showcased as a model for the rest of India — efficient, accessible, and comparable to the best in the world.
State Health Minister Veena George, a journalist-turned-legislator of the CPI-M, has repeatedly asserted that the state’s healthcare standards rival global benchmarks.
But when surgical scissors are left inside a patient’s stomach – in a new case that was revealed on Friday, the rhetoric begins to sound painfully hollow.
An older victim again relived her trauma before television cameras.
Harshina, a housewife from Kozhikode who had unknowingly carried a pair of scissors in her abdomen for years following a surgery at a government hospital, expressed solidarity with the victim of a similar incident at Alappuzha Medical College.
Even though her own scissors were removed later, she says, justice eludes her even today.
“The Health Minister repeats the same narrative every time: a grave issue, a probe, serious action. But I am still fighting for justice,” she said.
That refrain, inquiry, suspension, stern warning has become predictable.
Each time a shocking lapse surfaces, the response follows a script.
Meanwhile, television channels on Friday aired compilations of past medical blunders, juxtaposed with official statements promising accountability.
The pattern is unmistakable, outrage fades, committees are formed, and the system moves on without structural reform.
Opposition leaders have seized on the moment.
Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan argues that beyond statements, Kerala’s health sector is “on ventilator support”.
Protests by Congress and BJP workers in Alappuzha underscore growing public anger at what they call governmental indifference.
The tragedy is not just the negligence of an individual surgical team.
It is the deeper malaise of a system unwilling to confront its own fragility.
Chronic staff shortages, overburdened hospitals and weak monitoring mechanisms cannot be masked by celebratory press conferences, with frequent claims, first in the world, first in India and first time in Kerala.
With Assembly elections approaching, the contrast between narrative and lived reality may become politically consequential.
Kerala’s health sector has genuine strengths, but credibility erodes when repeated lapses are met with rehearsed responses.
A system that cannot ensure something as basic as surgical protocol compliance cannot claim world-class status.
Until accountability is visible and reform tangible, every forgotten instrument will cut deeper than the last.
(IANS)
