Kerala declares 83 antibiotic smart hospitals, 5 antibiotic literate panchayats

The Kerala Health Department has declared 83 hospitals as “antibiotic smart hospitals” and five panchayats as “antibiotic literate panchayats” after they met prescribed standards aimed at strengthening measures to prevent antibiotic resistance, Health Minister Veena George said on Saturday.

In a statement, the minister said 73 are primary-level institutions , while four are secondary-level hospitals and one is a tertiary-level hospital . The hospitals were accorded the “antibiotic smart” status only after meeting the prescribed criteria through multi-level evaluations at institutional, block, district and state levels , she said.

The initiative is part of Kerala’s efforts to curb antimicrobial resistance. According to the minister, the concepts of “antibiotic smart hospitals” and “antibiotic literate local self-government institutions” have been introduced for the first time in the world under the Kerala Anti-Microbial Resistance Strategic Action Plan.

The state government has also issued comprehensive operational guidelines for implementing the initiative, based on which hospitals and local self-government bodies were assessed and granted the designation.

As part of the programme, Family Health Centres at Kakodi and Ozhalapathy were declared antibiotic smart institutions in 2024.

George said the concept of antibiotic-literate panchayats was introduced under the “One Health” approach , which recognises the close links between human, animal and environmental health .

Under the Antibiotic-Literate Kerala project, specific criteria were set for local bodies to achieve the status. Kakodi panchayat in Kozhikode district and Panavally, Thakazhi, Veeyapuram and Chettikulangara panchayats in Alappuzha district have now attained the antibiotic-literate designation.

Among hospitals, Ernakulam General Hospital became the first tertiary-level antibiotic smart hospital in the state. Fort Kochi Taluk Hospital, Chengannur District Hospital, Alappuzha District Hospital and Alappuzha Women and Children’s Hospital have also been recognised as the first secondary-level antibiotic smart hospitals in Kerala.

The minister said the government aims to transform all hospitals and local self-government institutions into antibiotic-smart institutions within a defined timeframe as part of the state’s broader strategy to combat antimicrobial resistance.