By The Hindu Bureau

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The Kerala government on Wednesday permitted an adjournment debate in the Assembly on the increasing public health concern over the recurrence of amoebic meningoencephalitis, a rare infection with a relatively high mortality rate and arguably poor prognosis, in the State.

Speaker A N Shamseer told the House that Health Minister Veena George has assented to the Opposition United Democratic Front (UDF) to set aside usual business for an extended debate on the subject. He said the adjournment debate will commence at 12 noon.

Also read: Kerala Assembly LIVE updates

Congress legislator I.C. Balakrishnan and Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) MLA M. Shamsudeen had served a Rule 50 notice for an emergency debate.

The Opposition highlighted the mounting number of deaths (19) and hospitalisations (27) caused by the disease.

The UDF MLAs stated that health authorities’ alleged failure to determine the origin of the infection and “calibrate a preventive intervention” had triggered social anxiety, especially among a considerable section of the rural population who rely on open sources of untreated water, including ponds and wells, for their daily needs.

Earlier, the UDF had accused the government of resorting to a clever jugglery of health statistics to cover up the alleged failures in containing the disease, identifying vulnerable sections, and eradicating the sources, including by chlorinating placid water bodies.