Kerala govt mandates medical officers to take prior permission from health dept to speak to media

Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala) [India], December 6 : Kerala Health Department on Sunday issued a notice stating that medical officers and health workers need prior permission from the department to speak to media publicly.
In an order issued by Kerala Health Director V K Raju said that medical officers and health workers need to be cautious in sharing information with the media.
"Officers are not allowed to share information without prior permission from the department under any circumstances. In case of an emergency where it is necessary to provide information, they need to verify the facts and get prior sanction from the department," the notice said.
The notice also pointed out that some information published on the news platforms regarding the department's day to day affair and other matters are not authoritative. It said that publishing such news will "mislead people" regarding the department's work and create "stigma about the spread of disease".