Kerala task force to build healthy ageing wellness model

Kerala has formed a 16-member task force to design a model for disease prevention, early detection, treatment and healthy ageing, the state government has said. The Kerala Holistic Model for Health, Wellness and Longevity Task Force was created by a government order on 7 October 2026. It must report within two months of its first meeting, with pilot projects and a three-year action plan to follow.

Chief Minister V D Satheesan chairs the panel, and Health Minister K Muraleedharan is vice-chairman. Named members include Finance Additional Chief Secretary K Jyothilal, Health Principal Secretary Dr Sharmila Mary Joseph and the Chief Minister's Secretary, Dr Rathan Kelkar, along with medical experts. The panel can invite experts as special invitees, set up working groups and co-opt technical experts with the chairman's approval, and its work centres on healthy ageing for a state with a growing elderly population.

The order also sets out how the panel will work. It can invite stakeholders of eminence as special invitees and form focused working groups, and it can co-opt technical experts with the chairman's approval. That structure lets the task force draw on clinicians, administrators and researchers beyond its 16 members, and it gives the panel room to test ideas before writing them into the roadmap for healthy ageing.

What the healthy ageing task force will examine

The task force will prepare an evidence-based, implementable roadmap for a phased prevention and early detection framework, along with treatment and rehabilitation and an action plan for healthy ageing and wellness. It will examine the state's disease burden, demographic ageing and healthcare infrastructure, and recommend systems for preventive healthcare and timely screening. It will also look at how healthcare workers can detect risk factors before complications arise, as part of preventive healthcare planning.

Healthy ageing, traditional medicine and health records

A central part of the work is care for Kerala's growing elderly population, building on the establishment of a senior citizen department. The panel will examine rehabilitation and physical wellness for older adults, and whether modern medicine and traditional systems, including Ayurveda, can be used together to support healthy ageing. The government also plans a unified digital platform to bring citizens' health records together so treating physicians can see patient histories across departments.

The Chief Minister said this was the first time in the country that a state was putting in place a comprehensive plan covering prevention, early detection, treatment and healthy ageing. That claim is the government's own description of the initiative, and the order itself frames the work as a phased framework rather than a finished service. The panel will also assess existing facilities and identify community-level vulnerability to chronic illness, according to reports of the order.

Kerala's age profile is the backdrop to the exercise. The state has a growing share of older residents, and the task force will examine diseases, increasing age and facilities in the health sector as part of its brief. It will also examine whether modern medicine and traditional treatment methods, including Ayurveda, can be combined in everyday care, and whether a single digital record system can help doctors follow a patient across departments.

The Kerala health model will be tested first through pilot projects, with a three-year action plan setting out phased prevention and screening. The task force must submit its report within two months of its first meeting. The pilots will show how the Kerala health model works in practice, starting with prevention, early detection and care for older residents, and with health and longevity as the stated goal of the whole exercise.