Vidhi Codex

The Kerala Public Health Act, 2023

Chapter 1 PRELIMINARY

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Chapter 1 PRELIMINARY

1. Short title and commencement.

Statutory text
  1. (1) This Act may be called the Kerala Public Health Act, 2023.
  2. (2) Sub-section (8) of section 15, sub-section (7) of section 18, sub-section (3) of section 20 and section 65 shall come into force at once and the remaining provisions of this Act shall be deemed to have come into force on the 16th day of January, 2023.

Chapter 1 PRELIMINARY

2. Definitions.

Statutory text
  1. (1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,—
    • (a) “bio-medical waste” means solid - liquid waste having the presence of germs and the chance of infection therefrom that may be generated during the diagnosis of disease, surgeries, other treatments, injections of person or persons or during research in the field of health at hospitals and health research institutions during research in the health sector;
    • (b) “building” includes house, out-house, apartment, stable, latrine, shed, hut, bunk and also any other structure made out of stone, brick, mud, metal or any other material whatsoever;
    • (c) “communicable disease” means disease caused to human or animals due to infection with or without symptoms and communicable from human to human or from animals to animals or to human and can be detected with the assistance of diagnostic measures; Explanation:—For the purpose of this Act, “animals” include “birds”.
    • (d) “Community gathering” means gathering of a group of people for the purposes related to family, educational, social, political, spiritual, racial or religious or for the purposes of games, shows, entertainments or for similar matters;
    • (e) “District Public Health Officer” means Medical Officer deputed as the Member Secretary of the District Public Health Committee as per this Act and authorised for the implementation of this Act at district level;
    • (f) “drain” means any kind of drain which carry filth, waste water, drained water, rain water or subsoil water;
    • (g) “dwelling house” means a building constructed, used or taken for use wholly or partly for human dwelling or connected therewith;
    • (h) “educational institution” means a place which imparts knowledge or education and includes preschools, childcare institutions, schools, colleges, technical educational institutions, universities, coaching centers, tuition centers, training centers which are either public or private;
      • (i) “epidemic” means condition of public health importance caused due to the sudden and rapid increase in the number of cases of a disease;
    • (j) “factory” means any premise including the precincts thereof wherein any industrial, manufacturing or trade processes is carried on with the aid of steam, water, oil, gas, electricity or any other form of power which is mechanically transmitted and includes any premise as defined in the Factories Act, 1948 (Central Act 63 of 1948);
    • (k) “filth” includes sewage, excreta, putrid and putrified substances and all other substances which may cause danger to public health if not removed;
    • (l) “food” or “food items” includes all substances including grains, fruits, vegetables, flowers, leaves, milk, fish, meat and its produces and drinks including packed drinking water and also all ingredients added to such items or drinks for colour or for added flavour, which are used by persons for eating or drinking (as food or drinks) or for chewing, which are cooked or partially cooked or not cooked or processed, partially processd or not processed;
    • (m) “food business” means carrying out of any activity at any stage whether for profit or not and either in public or private which is related to manufacturing, processing, packing, storage, transportation, distribution or import of food items and include food services, catering services, sale of food or food ingredients;
    • (n) “Government” means the Government of Kerala;
    • (o) “healthcare institution” means institutions, or hospitals, nursing homes, maternity hospitals or other treatment centres in whole or in part either under public or private ownership, and which provides to the public various health services including activities for health promotion, prevention of disease, treatment, diagnosis, nursing, rehabilitative services, palliative care, restoration of health and research, through healthcare including diagnostic, therapeutic, nursing, palliative and other therapeutic care processes or reproductive health services or emergency health services or its different combinations;
    • (p) “healthcare providers” means a person who undertakes a service or profession related to the maintenance or restoration of the health of another person, and it includes any physician, nurse, paramedic, psychologist, counsellor, healthcare providers extending outreach healthcare services or persons providing medical, nursing, psychological, or other healthcare services of any kind;
    • (q) “healthcare services” means consultation, diagnosis and treatment and outreach services and services for the maintenance and promotion of public health;
    • (r) “health hazard” means any micro organism, chemical condition or any circumstance that may cause injury or illness;
    • (s) “health inspector” means a health inspector of Local Self Government or of an institution handed over to Local Self Government or a health inspector of a Government Medical College or an officer in the rank of health inspector, appointed for an area either permanently or temporarily;
    • (t) “hygiene facilities” means wash room facilities of sufficient number for various genders arranged in a room or rooms or building and with privacy, cleanliness and maintained in a germ free manner without any possibility of spread of disease;
    • (u) “infection” means the entry and growth or multiplication of an infectious agent in the body of a human being or animal;
      • (v) “isolation” means prohibition of a person or persons having infection from mingling with others for a specified period with an object of preventing or confining the spread of disease to persons and society;
    • (w) “latrine” means a facility or place set apart for defecating or urinating or for both and includes a closet and urinal;
      • (x) “local area” means an area within the jurisdiction of a Local Self Government Institution or as specified by the Local Public Health Officer from time to time;
    • (y) “Local Self-Government Institution” means a Municipality constituted under section 4 of the Kerala Municipality Act, 1994 (20 of 1994) or a Panchayat, at any level, constituted under section 4 of the Kerala Panchayat Raj Act, 1994 (13 of 1994);
    • (z) “Local Public Health Officer” means a Medical Officer appointed as the Member Secretary of the Local Public Health Committee as per this Act and authorised for the implementation of this Act at the local level;
    • (aa) “lodging house” means a hotel, boarding house, a choultry, dharmasala, resort, home stay, service apartment, rest house etc. where lodging facility is provided to persons with or without food on payment basis;
    • (ab) “market” means any place set apart or ordinarily or periodically used for the assembling of persons for the sale or purchase of grains, fruits, vegetables, meat, fish or other perishable articles of food or for the sale or purchase of livestock or poultry or of any agricultural or industrial produce or any raw or manufactured products or any other articles or commodities necessary for the convenience of life. However, a single shop or a group of shops not being more than six in number shall not be deemed to be a market;
    • (ac) “medical treatment” means treatment for the cure of disease or for the improvement of health condition of a patient after systematic diagnosis, through any mode of recognised treatment as per the Kerala State Medical Practitioners Act, 2021(Act 36 of 2021);
    • (ad) “migrant labourer” means people from outside the State and residing in the State for doing various works for the purpose of livelihood;
    • (ae) “notifiable communicable diseases” means the diseases mentioned in sub- section (2) of section 28 of this Act;
    • (af) “notification” means a notification published in the Official Gazette;
    • (ag) “nuisance” means any act or abstinence or place or thing which causes any hindrance, injury, danger or annoyance to sight, smell and hearing or cause annoyance to rest or sleep or cause or likely to cause danger to life or injury to health;
    • (ah) “Occupier” includes,
    • (a) any person who, for the time being, is paying or is liable to pay to the owner the rent or any portion of the rent of the land or building in respect of which such rent is paid or is payable;
    • (b) any owner in occupation of or otherwise using land or building;
    • (c) a rent-free tenant of any land or building;
    • (d) a licensee in occupation of any land or building; and
    • (e) any person who is liable to pay the owner damages for the use or occupation of any land or building;
    • (ai) “offensive trade” means any trade in which the substance dealt with are, or are likely to cause, a nuisance;
    • (aj) “owner” means a person receiving or eligible to receive the rent or profits of a property or building, in relation to which the expression is used, to her own account or as an agent, trustee, guardian, manager or receiver of any other person or estate or for any religious or charitable purposes and shall include such persons;
    • (ak) “prescribed” means prescribed by rules or regulations made under this Act;
    • (al) “private healthcare institutions” means any institutions owned by any private person, trust, corporation or non governmental organisation wherein investigation, diagnosis, preventive procedure, curative medical treatment facilities are provided with or without inpatient facility. These shall include medical clinics with or without inpatient treatment, healthcare centres, maternity home, hospitals, old age home, day care centre, kaya chikitsa institution, in-vitro fertility clinic, genetic laboratories, counselling centres, medical laboratory, diagnostic centres, radiological and imaging centres, scanning centres, physiotherapy centres, dispensaries and mental health institutions; Explanation:—For the purpose of this Act, healthcare institutions owned or run by societies or co-operative societies shall also deemed to be private healthcare institutions.
    • (am) “public building” shall include all buildings which are used or constructed as such for the use of general public such as public schools, colleges, hospitals, work place, worship centres, public theatres, cinema halls, libraries, lecture halls, concert halls, exhibition halls, assembly halls, hotels, restaurants, lodging houses and shelter homes but does not include dwelling house;
    • (an) “public health” means health condition of the society in general. It includes activities ensuring physical, mental and social well being through various methods such as health stimulative activities centered on the social sources of health, prevention of diseases, early diagnosis, treatment, rehabilitation and to ensure and improve the healthy coexistence between man and nature;
    • (ao) “public health committee or committee” means State Public Health Committee, the District Public Health Committee and the Local Public Health Committee, as the case may be, which shall come into existance as per section 3;
    • (ap) “public health emergency” means the occurence of a disease considered severe from a public health perspective or death due to a sudden threat of a disease or health condition or the occurence of a serious health condition in a large number of people and likely to affect even the growth of an embryo or the large scale spread of biotoxins or other poisonous substances or germs likely to cause serious harm or the occurence of significant harm due to a new or previously present or controlled or eradicated germ or biotoxin or any disaster including large accidents;
    • (aq) “public place” means a place not meant for private use;
    • (ar) “quarantine” means isolating a person or persons suspected to have a disease or having contact with diseased persons or coming from an area of disease spread so as to prevent mingling with others for a specified period in order to prevent the spread of the disease to persons and to society;
    • (as) “registered medical practitioner” or “medical practitioner” means a medical practitioner registered under the Kerala State Medical Practitioners Act, 2021 (Act 36 of 2021);
    • (at) “Secretary” means the Secretary of the Local Self Government Institution;
    • (au) “sewage” means latrine waste, waste contained in the cesspools or drains, trade effluents and all type of discharges from industrial units and include such things;
    • (av) “shopping mall” means a complex of various trading centres situated in one or more interconnected buildings;
    • (aw) “specimen” means a sample and culture of blood, sputum, urine, stool or other bodily fluids, wastes and tissues needed to conduct required tests;
    • (ax) “State” means State of Kerala;
    • (ay) “state public health officer” means a medical officer appointed as the Member Secretary of the State Public Health Committee as per this Act and authorised for the implementation of this Act at State level;
    • (az) “vaccination” means the process of inducting into the body of a human being, inactivated or weakened micro organism, their cell parts, their genetic substance or any other bio or non-bio micro matters having similarities with the structure of micro organism, through injection or otherwise for the purpose stimulating the immune mechanism of the body and thereby reducing the chance of being affected by the disease;
    • (ba) “vector” means insects and other arthropods which carry germs in their body and may cause infection to humans or animals through biting, contacting and polluting food and beverages;
    • (bb) “water course” includes any natural or artificial river, stream, canal or lake and water theme park except a drain;
    • (bc) “water theme park” means an amusement park having exclusive places for waterplay such as water slides, splash pads, spray grounds, water playground, lazy rivers, or other recreations, swimming, plays without water skies, wave pool with or without artificial surfing or body boarding like flow rider;
    • (bd) “work place” means any premises including the precincts thereof wherein any industrial, manufacturing, trade, service process is carried on, and where person or persons are employed for wages or any other remuneration but does not include a factory or workshop;
    • (be) “workshop” means any premises including the precincts thereof wherein any article is made, repaired, altered, ornamented, finished or otherwise adapted for use on a commercial basis and person or persons are employed for that purpose for wages or any other remuneration, but does not include a factory.
  2. (2) In this Act, save as the context otherwise requires, the feminine gender wherever expressed, shall include all genders.

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