Tripura News
Gandacherra again under the grip of malaria: State administration turns deaf ear to the sufferings of people
TIWN
PHOTO : Scary malaria attacks to their only loving son, at Dolpati para, Gandachhera. TIWN
Agartala, January 29 (TIWN): Tripura state once again found itself in the grip of an unprecedented malaria outbreak in Gandacherra, ninetyÂthree kilometers from Agartala, in Dhalai District. The cases are reported from villages under the Gandacherra subÂdivision. In the meantime, report of the death of two children was reported.
Though the state govt. claims to have taken certain measures to prevent the situation but situation remains alarming. The state medical team has been conducting a regular health camp at the malaria affected villages under the Gandacherra subdivision. There are sufficient medicine available here in the state to take a stock of the situation this time- the health officials claimed.
But in reality, the situation is vice-versa. In the beginning of the New Year two children of Gandacherra’s Ratannagar Thamuni Para was reported to be dead by the attack of malaria. The deceased was named as Bagiram Tripura (4) and RatanMala Tripura (8).
But, inspite of that, the State administration lacks in preventive measures to be taken against the affect of malaria. Every year, thousands of people losts their life due to the attack of these deadly disease. But the administration were busy in scams and over issues of spurious drug, atrocities against women, corruption, malfunctioning of PDS, chit fund, deterioration of law and order, underdevelopment of tribal people and deprivation of employees .The tightlipped gesture of Chief Minister Manik Sarkar over the increasing crimes and vowed to intensify party’s agitation across the state.
Earlier during the year 2014 as news spread out about the malaria deaths, a few weeks ahead of the Panchayat elections (July 15), the government took series of decisions: it suspended 50 rural health workers (the lowest tier), reprimanded doctors and cancelled their leaves, and organized health camps. Until July 13, it had organized 4,078 health camps and large scale sensitization programmes, and flooded the public health centers (PHCs) with second generation medicines (the state was declared malaria drug resistant in 2009) and rapid diagnostic kits (RDK). It sent out DDT (used for vector control) spray teams even to the “inaccessible” mountainous areas, home to Primitive Tribal Groups (PGT) like the Reangs, the Tripura and the Molsom. Since many tribal populations do not complete the full course of drugs, malaria become drug resistant and once a mosquito bites them, it can infect others. Many malaria cases are reported even in winter because of this phenomenon. As May-June is peak season for jhum cultivation the tribals’ are toiling in fields that are swarmed with mosquitoes the tribals do not wear clothes that fully cover their bodies, hence they are susceptible to mosquito bites
Sanjay Majumder
Anirban Mitra