The State government is trying to conceal its failures in protecting the health of tribal people by coming up with new promises of providing specialist doctors. Malaria is a recurring feature in the Agency areas of the district but no permanent measures have been initiated by the government to control it, alleged former MLC and Prajarogya Vedika State leader M. Geyanand and CPI(M) district secretary K. Lokanadham.
Dr. Geyanand, who is a medical doctor, has been attending medical camps being conducted by the CPI(M) in the Agency areas for the last 10 years
Dr. Geyanand, Mr. Lokanadham and other CPI(M) leaders visited Lumgaparthi and Sunkarametta of Anantagiri mandal and the Area Hospital at Araku on Monday and interacted with villagers.
The failure of the authorities concerned to initiate preventive measures before the start of the epidemic season was resulting in spread of seasonal diseases like malaria, diarrhoea, typhoid, viral fevers apart from anthrax, they alleged at a media conference here on Tuesday. The lack of transportation facilities, to 1,200 villages in the Agency, was one of the major reasons for the tribal people being unable to avail of medical facilities. There was no protected drinking water facility to nearly 1,000 villagesand borewells and gravity schemes, which were damaged, were not being repaired.
The failure of the government to appoint adequate doctors, nurses and paramedics at the PHC s and CHC s was another reason for health facilities not reaching the tribal people. The salaries of contract doctors have not been paid for several months. They wondered which doctor would prefer to serve in the tribal areas, when they were not being paid salaries. Now, the government was trying to woo specialist doctors with high salaries. They wondered whether the doctors would believe the words of the government.
