Snowy Owl
Retired in 2010, In Memoriam
Chikungunya-hit Alappuzha cries for help
http://www.newindpress.com/NewsItems.asp?ID=IER20060926033656&Page=R&Title=Kerala&Topic=0
Tuesday September 26 2006 13:58 IST ALAPPUZHA: The plight of the ordinary labour folk living on the fringes of Vembanadu Lake and other waterlogged areas in the district, has never been so dreadful.
Crippled by chikungunya, the entire Cherthala taluk is in agony; 35 have died and 30,000 people are undergoing treatment.
With the sole option of depending on the Virology Institute at Bangalore for scientific tests, the public are confused and panicky. In most cases, people above 60 years have died and officials say that they are all natural deaths.
The tragedy has reinforced the need for a permanent mechanism to deal with the outbreak of epidemics in Alappuzha, which has a long history of attacks of epidemics ranging from dengue fever to Weil?s Disease.
An experiment in this regard, the Virology Institute launched in Alappuzha years back to effectively deal with the outbreak of epidemics, is battling for survival.
However, it is something of a solace that the new LDF Government has appointed a full-time director for the institute.
The institute is at least collecting samples for tests and we can hope that if and when it gets funds to buy medical kits for chikungunya-specific tests, the functioning of the institute will be more useful to the public.
But can the new LDF Government restrict its effective intervention to contain such an epidemic? The knee-jerk reaction of the Health Department at times gives such an impression.
Many in Alappuzha remember that in a similar situation in 1996 when Weil?s Disease broke out in the district, the then Health Minister V M udheeran, who later became the MP of Alappuzha for another eight years, camped in the district for a week to supervise and coordinate the government machinery to mitigate the sufferings of the patients.
Such an effort is not forthcoming from the ruling LDF bosses who are usually eloquent on their commitment to the poor and the needy.
It is true that Health Minister P K Sreemathi had made a quick visit to Cherthala a week ago and Finance Minister Thomas Isaac had convened a review meeting to assure all concerned that money was not a problem in carrying out relief activities.
But the Health Minister could not keep her promises on improving facilities at hospitals like Vettakkal Government Hospital in Pattanakkad Panchayat, which is crowded with chikungunya patients from Aroor.
The facilities at the Cherthala taluk Hospital and the primary health centres nearby leave much to be desired. According to District Medical Officer N K Velayudhan, not even a single death so far have been certified by the doctors as due to chikungunya.
At the same time, Alappuzha Medical College Community Pharmacy Head Dr Thomas Mathew said that of the total deaths, around 20 people had symptoms of chikungunya.
However, the results of the test conducted on the blood samples of the dead are not available. Of the blood samples of 39 cases tested in Bangalore, nine are chikungunya-infected.
The ineptitude of the 21-grama panchayats in the taluk in carrying out effective mosquito eradication programme is another cause of heartburn.
However, the DMO said that the grama panchayats failed in this regard because they had failed to submit projects in time to get funds under government?s Public Health Programme due to the strike of government doctors. Now, the district administration has decided to observe September 27 and October 2 as Mosquito Eradication Days.
http://www.newindpress.com/NewsItems.asp?ID=IER20060926033656&Page=R&Title=Kerala&Topic=0
Tuesday September 26 2006 13:58 IST ALAPPUZHA: The plight of the ordinary labour folk living on the fringes of Vembanadu Lake and other waterlogged areas in the district, has never been so dreadful.
Crippled by chikungunya, the entire Cherthala taluk is in agony; 35 have died and 30,000 people are undergoing treatment.
With the sole option of depending on the Virology Institute at Bangalore for scientific tests, the public are confused and panicky. In most cases, people above 60 years have died and officials say that they are all natural deaths.
The tragedy has reinforced the need for a permanent mechanism to deal with the outbreak of epidemics in Alappuzha, which has a long history of attacks of epidemics ranging from dengue fever to Weil?s Disease.
An experiment in this regard, the Virology Institute launched in Alappuzha years back to effectively deal with the outbreak of epidemics, is battling for survival.
However, it is something of a solace that the new LDF Government has appointed a full-time director for the institute.
The institute is at least collecting samples for tests and we can hope that if and when it gets funds to buy medical kits for chikungunya-specific tests, the functioning of the institute will be more useful to the public.
But can the new LDF Government restrict its effective intervention to contain such an epidemic? The knee-jerk reaction of the Health Department at times gives such an impression.
Many in Alappuzha remember that in a similar situation in 1996 when Weil?s Disease broke out in the district, the then Health Minister V M udheeran, who later became the MP of Alappuzha for another eight years, camped in the district for a week to supervise and coordinate the government machinery to mitigate the sufferings of the patients.
Such an effort is not forthcoming from the ruling LDF bosses who are usually eloquent on their commitment to the poor and the needy.
It is true that Health Minister P K Sreemathi had made a quick visit to Cherthala a week ago and Finance Minister Thomas Isaac had convened a review meeting to assure all concerned that money was not a problem in carrying out relief activities.
But the Health Minister could not keep her promises on improving facilities at hospitals like Vettakkal Government Hospital in Pattanakkad Panchayat, which is crowded with chikungunya patients from Aroor.
The facilities at the Cherthala taluk Hospital and the primary health centres nearby leave much to be desired. According to District Medical Officer N K Velayudhan, not even a single death so far have been certified by the doctors as due to chikungunya.
At the same time, Alappuzha Medical College Community Pharmacy Head Dr Thomas Mathew said that of the total deaths, around 20 people had symptoms of chikungunya.
However, the results of the test conducted on the blood samples of the dead are not available. Of the blood samples of 39 cases tested in Bangalore, nine are chikungunya-infected.
The ineptitude of the 21-grama panchayats in the taluk in carrying out effective mosquito eradication programme is another cause of heartburn.
However, the DMO said that the grama panchayats failed in this regard because they had failed to submit projects in time to get funds under government?s Public Health Programme due to the strike of government doctors. Now, the district administration has decided to observe September 27 and October 2 as Mosquito Eradication Days.