Tamil Nadu has sent 40 medical teams to the flood-affected districts of Kerala, specifically those that share a border with the State.
While teams, which comprise 200 members including doctors, entomologists, health inspectors, are conducting medical camps, public health personnel are focussing on chlorination of water sources to provide safe drinking water to people.
Directorate of Public Health officials said personnel from districts such as Coimbatore, Nilgiris, Theni and Tirunelveli were mobilised and sent to flood-affected districts of Kerala. Joint directors and deputy directors of health services in these districts were coordinating the efforts. Already, four joint directors and 10 health officers were on the field, while two health officers were assisting at the health control room of Directorate of Health Services in Thiruvananthapuram.
“We are focussing more on water chlorination. The objective is to provide safe drinking water to the people by restoring wells and restoring the water supply system,” K. Kolandaiswamy, director of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, said.
They are supporting junior health inspectors, accredited social health activists and volunteers in chlorination activities, he added. Already, 6,000 chlorine testing kits were dispatched, and another 10,000 kits would be sent in the coming days.
“Medical and public health teams from each bordering district have been dispatched to Kerala. The teams left from Tirunelveli to Pathanamthitta, from Dindigul, Madurai and Theni to Idukki, from Coimbatore and Tirupur to Palakkad and Thrissur and from Nilgiris to Wayanad and Malappuram. These 40 teams visit these districts, conduct camps, take up public health services every day and return,” an officer said.
Minor ailments
The teams included 35 doctors, 10 entomologists, 50 health inspectors and health officers. From August 19 to 22, these teams have conducted 275 camps in the affected districts. A total of 16,700 persons attended the camps. “They mostly had complaints of fever, minor injuries, insect bites, and there were some cases of diarrhoea,” he added.
Drugs, bleaching powder, chlorine tablets and disinfectants worth nearly ₹2 crore were dispatched to Kerala through the Tamil Nadu Medical Services Corporation and Directorate of Public Health. Three rapid response teams are training field personnel on the use of chlorine testing kits.
