The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : 73 malaria cases under one PHC in Khammam

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Dec 17, 2007
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

73 malaria cases under one PHC in Khammam

D. Chandra Bhaskar Rao

Lone doctor at the PHC unavailable most of the times as he covers some 53 villages in tribal pockets

CHINTUR (Khammam DT.): Nothing has changed for a cluster of villages under Tulasipaka primary health centre (PHC), despite the administration declaring a virtual war against vector-borne diseases in the district.

Located close to the inter-State border with Orissa, over half-a-dozen habitations were identified as a highly-endemic pocket for malaria in the State. Godlagudem tops the list.

The PHC remains closed most of the time because Mallikarjun, the lone doctor is unavailable even to attend to emergency cases.

He is expected to be on field visits, covering some 53 villages in tribal pockets.

Villagers complain that there was only one doctor in the PHC.

The second post is vacant for many years now. So is the case with posts like Health Extension Officer, Supervisor and Lab Technician. The staff nurse is on maternity leave.

Hence, Dr. Mallikarjun shifted operations to the civil hospital at Chintur, saying it was centrally-located for him to cover the 53 villages in the mandal. He admitted he could visit the PHC and attend out-patients only three days a fortnight.

He explained that the other days, he would be visiting villages, handling the fever cases or conducting health camps in welfare hostels.

A whopping 511 malaria positive cases (almost one third of the number in the district) were reported in the PHC limits thus far, this year.

In all 73 malaria positive cases were treated in December alone.

The highest number, 23 cases were identified in Mothugudem, 13 in Koltur, eight in Valmur gondi, six in Kondapallli and eight in Oriya camp.

Malaria has claimed two lives of two persons in the past six weeks.

They include Pranathi (21), wife of the Mothugudem gram panchayati sarpanch and a woman who migrated from Orissa.

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