Sidam Bheemu, a member of the Kolam tribe of Babulguda in Jainoor mandal will now have to work in the field of his money-lender to clear the debt of Rs. 500 that he incurred to pay the quack from Nagalkonda who ‘treated’ his son Srikanth when he was down with fever.
Similarly, Sidam Radhabai and Bheem Rao are silently suffering in the dinghy confines of their hut in the same village since they contracted fever around 8 days back.
Sidam Bojju, a resident of the same village, is also confined to bed due to fever since the last five days. “The ANM had come a few days back and handed me two tablets (paracetamol) for fever,” he recalled of the only effort made by the government to reach out to the Adivasi people reeling under untold hardships due to seasonal diseases.
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Several people residing in the village also said that their blood samples were not being collected by the medical staff. Twenty-one Adivasi people are reported to have succumbed to seasonal illnesses in August in Asifabad constituency alone.
Of these, 18 have been claimed by fevers like malaria and three due to diarrhoea, according to independent assessments.
The seriousness of diseases in the agency can also be gauged from the fact that the Jainoor Primary Health Centre (PHC) receives about 400 out-patients every day, and at least 100 of them report fever.
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The PHC or the Community Health Centre is ill-equipped in terms of the availability of doctors to handle such a huge turnout.
There is at least one person down with seasonal ailments in every house in tribal hamlets such as Babulguda, Pawarguda, Daboli, Busimetta, Rasimetta, Nandunaik tanda, Kishorenaik tanda and Aliguda in Jainoor mandal.
In neighbouring Sirpur (U), the villages affected are Kothapalli, mamidipalli, Shettihadapnur, Kohinoor, Pamulwada, Kanchanpalli and Pangdi while those in Narnoor mandal are Narnoor, Bheempur, Sonepur, Chrogaon, Babejhari, Kothapalli and Malegaon.