Nepal: Drugs in Short Supply as Kala-azar Grips Sarlahi Folk

[Shiloh]

Source: http://www.thehimalayantimes.com/fu...&folder=aHaoamW&Name=Home&dtSiteDate=20080420

Drugs in Short Supply as Kala-azar Grips Sarlahi Folk

Shankar Shrestha
Sarlahi, April 20

Medicines are in short supply at Trichandra Hospital in Malangawa, the headquarters of Sarlahi district, and people afflicted with kala-azar are languishing without treatment. The hospital requisitioned medicines from the communicable diseases section of its head office in Kathmandu, but the stock sent was inadequate.
Senior health worker at the hospital Lata Shrestha said 500 vials were demanded, but only 100 vials came this morning. Shrestha added that these would not be enough for even the 17 chronic kala-azar patients who were being treated at the hospital. All 17 patients were sent home as the hospital ran out of medicines. Of them, Phuleshwar Roy of Kishanpur VDC-7 has contacted the hospital again.
Ravindra Paswan, 10, of Taiwan Basti in Hariwan VDC 6, was brought to Trichandra Hospital after he became unconscious while playing with companions, said his mother Dukhiya Devi. She said tests established that Ravindra had kala-azar and added that she had to take him home as there were no medicines at the hospital. "The doctor has told me to bring him again tomorrow," she said.
Most of the kala-azar patients are from Taiwan Basti and their economic condition is very bad. Secretary of the community forest users' federation Uttam Kumar Mainali said most of the afflicted persons in Taiwan Basti have been selling off their cattle and other livestock to collect money for treatment. Mainali added that his organisation was collecting funds to provide for those those who could not afford treatment.
Laxmi Shrestha said senior district public health office staffer Arun Kumar Jha had deputed malaria inspector Rambilas Mahato to go to the affected spot with medicines and medical implements for conducting tests. Local health post staffer Ramsewak Roy said lack of awareness among Taiwan Basti residents and unhygienic conditions created by them were responsible for the kala-azar outbreak.
Roy said the government had built toilets for these people, but they preferred to keep pigs, goats and chickens in these and use the backyard of their houses for lavatory purposes.

 

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Re: Nepal: Drugs in Short Supply as Kala-azar Grips Sarlahi Folk

Source: http://www.thehimalayantimes.com/fu...&folder=aHaoamW&Name=Home&dtSiteDate=20080424

45 Kala-azar Patients Spotted in Sarlahi Pocket

THT Online
Sarlahi, April 24

A team of the Epidemology and Disease Control Division has spotted 45 kala-azar patients in Taiwan area of the district. This is the first time such a large number of kala-azar patients were found in a specific location.
The team was dispatched following a news report on kala-azar outbreak in Hariwan in The Himalayan Times on April 18.
According to Rambilas Mahato, a malaria inspector at the district public health office, kala-azar virus was detected in blood samples of 45 persons until on Wednesday. The K-39 method was used for conducting the blood test, he said, adding that there is a chance of finding more persons infected with the disease.
Sandfly, which transmits the disease, survives in dark and cold places especially in nooks and corners of houses and cowsheds, public health nurse Laxmi Shrestha said, adding: "The insect cannot fly but is able to leap forward and one-fourth the size of a mosquito and remains active between dusk and 1:00 am."
Shrestha said a campaign has been launched in the Taiwan area to spray insecticide to kill sandflies.
"Those found with the disease are the persons who could not afford to get treatement and some 10 persons from the same location have already had their disease cured," said former chairman of the Hariwan VDC, Dilli Prasad Upreti.
Director of the EDCD Garibdas Thakur, who had visited the area, has instructed the officials here to run a camp for treating kala-azar patients, said assistant health worker of the area health post Sasapur Amit Prasad Gautam.
A volunteer at the Taiwan area Radhika Katuwal said 50-year-old Gyan Bahadur Magar of Katuwal area died yesterday after he failed to receive medical treatment.
The Child Welfare Organisation data reveal that altogether nine persons have died of kala-azar in the last six months, said a volunteer at the organisation Anita Bhujel.

 

[Shiloh]

Re: Nepal: Drugs in Short Supply as Kala-azar Grips Sarlahi Folk

Source: http://www.gorkhapatra.org.np/content.php?nid=40322
Drive against Kala-azar in Saptari [ 2008-4-26 ]
RSS

SARLAHI, April 25: A health camp has been organized at Taiwan Basti in Ward No 6 of Hariwan VDC of Sarlahi after kala-azar gripped the settlement. Kala-azar has killed at least 12 people and infected 50 people in the settlement within three weeks since the disease broke out.
A team of health workers from the Communicable Disease Control Division, Kathmandu, has started treating the patients by holding a camp in the village since yesterday, according to Arun Kumar Jha, senior public health officer at the district public health office, Sarlahi.
VDC secretary Raj Kumar Thapa said pesticides are being sprayed in Hariwan and surrounding villages so as to control the spread of the disease.
Harka Bahadur Ale, a local, said 11 people lost their lives to kala-azar due to the lack of treatment. Fulmaya Rai (50) and Talk Bahadur Rana (50) died of kala-azar on Wednesday and Tuesday respectively.
Other killed by the disease are Prem Ram, Sandadevi Pasawan, Kancha Pariyar, Gopimaya BK, Anita BK, Phulmaya BK, Pancha Lal BK, Badri Ghising and Sunmaya Magar.
Jha said it has not yet been confirmed whether they died of kala-azar even though the causative agent of kala-azar has been found in the locality.
In Itahari, patients at Sunsari District Hospital, Inaruwa have been deprived of getting the facility of x-ray service for the past five years.
The hospital which has posts for six doctors is sometimes gripped in chaos due to absence of the doctors.
Despite massive crowd of patients in the hospital, it is learnt that only three doctors are carrying out their duties.
Similarly, the service recipients are compelled to visit the expensive private clinics even for the x-ray of minor diseases.
Though the Department of Health Services had provided an advanced x-ray machine (300 mm) to the hospital three months ago, it could not be operated yet.
The machine could not be used yet due to the lack of technicians for fitting the machine, said a hospital staffer Tarani Prasad Yadav.
Over 50 to 100 patients visit the hospital daily for treatment, it is learnt.
In Bhimphedi, district public health office, Makwanpur, completed spraying insecticides against mosquitoes in ward No 2 and 3 of Manahari VDC so as to prevent the spread of diseases by mosquitoes, specially malaria.
Likewise the office provided insecticide-treated nets to 2,490 people of 1,300 households of the wards to keep themselves protected from mosquito bite.
The office also completed collecting blood samples and household statistics in the area, said malaria control officer of the office Naresh Raj Yadav.
In Lahan, Patients of Lahan Hospital have been affected from lack of oxygen.
Some 100- 150 patients come to the hospital daily at present. Of them, some need oxygen, doctors said.
We demand 10 cylinders but only get two, and service is affected, said Hospital Medical Superintendent Dr. Gyanendra Bahadur Adhikari.
There is also the shortage of beds in the 15-bed hospital forcing to treat them on the hospital floor and now they are also affected by shortage of oxygen.