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Crude treatment costs life of three-month-old baby

KORAPUT: A three-month-old girl had no knowledge what was going wrong with her health when death was pulling her silently into its laps in the sub-divisional hospital of Jeypore on Thursday. The little girl had drawn everyone’s attention for the last two days in the hospital for the inhuman treatment administered on her body by her parents of Sanadubuli village of Borigumma block in the district.

She had been suffering from malnutrition and hence her belly was swollen, the doctor said. However, owing to non availability of medical care in the near vicinity, the little girl, like many other poor children in rural pockets of Koraput district, was exposed to a local practitioner who placed a red hot spoon on all over her belly so as to drive away some evil forces, sources said. As there was no sign of improvement in the condition of the girl, the parents were forced to admit her to the hospital at Jeypore where she succumbed on Friday. This was not the solitary case of painful treatment given for different ailments mostly leading to unreported deaths in tribal dominated district of Koraput, said Sanjit Patnaik, a social worker.

Placing hot umbrella sticks or iron rods all over the body and pouring of hot oil on the body using broom stick were more of a common practice among tribal communities, he added.

Blaming blind faith in such practices for their ill health, he said the importance of many safer practices from the traditional health system could not be ruled out for its easy reach and local understanding. The World Health Assembly in 1977urged the governments to give adequate importance to use of traditional systems of medicine with appropriate regulations. While such efforts have been initiated in voluntary sector, active involvement of official agencies was necessary, Mr. Patnaik added.

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