Hudhud-hit ZP High School turns smart

DEC Project Managers of Eisai Pharmaceuticals being welcomed by students of the Zilla Parishad High School at Yarada on Tuesday. —

It was a memorable occasion for the students of the Zilla Parishad High School at Yarada. Representatives of Eisai Pharmaceuticals India Private Ltd., from seven countries, visited their school on Tuesday.

Yarada, a fishing village, is cut off from the hustle and bustle of city life though it has been merged in Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC). A vast majority of the villagers are fisher folk and they depend on the ZP High School for their children’s education.

“Eisai Pharma had provided infrastructure to our school and a few students, who could afford private education and left due to lack of amenities, are now returning to our school,” said Head Master Subrahmanyam.

“Our teachers are also doing their bit to improve the results of students. The pass percentage during the last two years was 97 per cent in 10th class in our school and a few students were given scholarships by the government,” he said.

“The insufficient classrooms, lack of furniture, absence of a compound wall and protected drinking water were the problems during 2012-14. The severe cyclone Hudhud in October 2014 caused further damage to the infrastructure. Post-Hudhud, Eisai took up the renovation of the buildings and turned our school into a smart school,” said A. Basheerunnisa Begum of 10th class.

Chakri of 8th class and Grishmodaya of 7th class were all praise of Eisai for improving the amenities at their school.

Later, Eisai DEC (Diethyl Carbamazine) project managers interacted with lymphatic filariasis patients, who were being given DEC tablets, for treatment. The patients, who were mostly daily wage earners, said their condition had improved with the use of the tablets. They are yet to be cured completely.

There are 52 lymphatic filariasis patients in Yarada village. Anti-larval operations were carried out in coordination with the State Health Department for control of the vector. The company had supplied DEC tablets, manufactured at its Vizag facility, in more than 25 countries including India through WHO free of cost, according to Eisai India representatives.

The DEC project managers who came from abroad are: Chihiro Takayama, Risa Kamata and Takayuki Hida (all three from Japan), Estiyasa Handayani (Indonesia), Wongcharoen Chanchai (Thailand), Valerie Ann L Valeza (Phillippines), Fabian Gusovsky (US), Michael Symington (UK) and Yiqun Huang (China).