Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) working president Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka blamed the insanitary conditions prevailing in the ‘fund-starved’ Gram Panchayats for the outbreak of dengue and other seasonal diseases in Khammam district.
The State government has deprived the gram panchayats of requisite grants, which in turn resulted in insanitary conditions in several villages triggering the outbreak of vector-borne diseases, he charged.
The prevalence of dengue has assumed epidemic proportions afflicting hundreds of people and claiming several lives across the district including the lives of two tribals in Ravinuthala, the worst affected village in Bonakal mandal, in the past couple of days, he pointed out. He was speaking to mediapersons after visiting the fever patients those undergoing treatment at the district headquarters hospital here on Tuesday.
Earlier, he interacted with the patients including an inmate of a residential school, a woman and others afflicted with fever.
Moved by the plight of a patient lying on the floor for want of beds, he apprised the hospital staff about the ordeals being faced by the patient in the absence of proper amenities at the hospital.
Speaking on the occasion, he alleged that the State government was trying to play down the magnitude of the dengue incidence in the district as was evident from the refusal of the officials concerned to acknowledge dengue related deaths.
“The district headquarters hospital is grappling with shortage of beds and doctors at a time when the district is witnessing a public health crisis,” he lamented.
The hospital is equipped with little over 250 beds as a result the patients are put to severe hardships due to limited beds and shortage of manpower.
There are only two physicians as against the total sanctioned strength of four physicals in the hospital. One of the two physicians has gone to Hyderabad for training, he said, deploring that only one general surgeon was available in the hospital against the requisite strength of three.
The situation calls for urgent steps to improve infrastructure facilities and appointment of adequate staff in the hospital, he stressed.
“The persons at the helm of affairs should wake from slumber and declare health emergency in the district to tackle the public health crisis,” Mr Vikramarka demanded.
