The death of a nine-day-old infant from Pottikkallur tribal hamlet in Attappady here for want of sufficient post-delivery care at Coimbatore Medical College Hospital (CMCH) on Friday is clearly exposing the hollowness of official claims with regard to better health care access in the backward tribal region.
Revathi Arun, the mother of the infant, said the infant and she were referred to CMCH by the tribal super-specialty hospital at Kottathara in Attappady soon after the delivery citing certain complications. But the Health department and the district administration had not contacted CMCH authorities to inform about the need to provide special medical care for the mother and the infant as they belonged to the most vulnerable tribal group. As a result, they failed to get immediate and better treatment at the CMCH. According to K.A. Ramu of the tribal organisation Thambu, there was an agreement between Palakkad and Coimbatore district administrations ever since 2013 to provide quality treatment at CMCH for tribal patients from Attappady. The agreement was signed during the peak of malnutrition-related deaths and CMCH was the easily accessible medical college hospital from Attappady. CMCH is hardly 45 km away while Thrissur Medical College remains about 200 km away.
Choman Mooppan, village elder of Bhoothivazhi Colony, said the lack of proper interaction between Palakkad district authorities and CMCH officials prevented Attappady tribals from getting free and quality medical care there. “Though people outside Tamil Nadu have to pay about Rs.1,500 for treatment at CMCH, the earlier agreement exempted Attappady tribals. Now, CMCH is demanding payment if a patient states that he or she belongs to Kerala. In order to avoid the financial liability, tribal patients give false addresses claiming they live in adjoining Anaikatti area of Tamil Nadu. As a result, even child mortalities would not be counted as those from Attappady,” he says.
Revathi said it was only after intervention of tribal organisations, Health department officials in Attappady gave her Rs.2,000 for expenses during the stay in Coimbatore. The ambulance to take back the body was also arranged only because of the intervention of tribal groups.
Even last year, when infant deaths were reported, the State government promised to upgrade the Kottathara hospital and three primary health centres in Attappady region with better facilities, especially for pregnant women.
