Shillong: Akha in Assamese means hope. The boat clinics built and serviced by the Centre for North East Studies and Policy Research (C-NES) have been reaching health care to some of the most deprived population living in the nearly 2500 islands in the different expanses of the mighty Brahmaputra. They have brought hope to a once hopeless population.
Noted journalist, author and scholar, Sanjoy Hazarika, who is also the managing trustee of C-NES and the brain behind the boat clinic screened his film Where there are no roads at the State Central Library Conference Room on Saturday. The film captures the work of the boat clinics in different islands of Assam.
An attentive audience from different walks of life watched with rapt attention at the efforts of the team on the boat clinics. They travel a whole day on the river, then anchor and walk another five to six hours with their medical equipment to reach health care to the unreached population.
The Brahmaputra, an untamed river with a mind of its own, causes considerable erosion year after year.
People lose their life’s savings and live in abject poverty in the ‘char’ areas (river banks). Women and children bear the worst brunt as they have no access to basic health care. Fertility rates are high since neither women nor men adopt family planning methods, some because of ignorance but others because of religious diktats.
In this very complex situation C-NES launched its boat clinics in 2005 from Dibrugarh district. Now there are 15 boat clinic teams in 13 districts of Assam. The Government of Assam is now collaborating with C-NES in the innovative project through the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM).
The programme now reaches 4.5 lakh persons. For this programme C-NES has 242 staff, including 30 doctors, 45 nurses, 30 allied health staff, 45 community workers, 60 boat crew, 15 district programme officers, 5 family planning counsellors and a full programme management unit.
Each district has 15 members headed by the District Programme Officer (DPO) who is the key person in organising district plans and coordinates the team, district health departments, district administration, NRHM and the community. Each team comprises of two doctors, three nurses, one laboratory assistant, one pharmacist, three community workers and four boat crew. The districts covered are Dibrugarh, Tinsukia, Dhemaji, North Lakhimpur, Jorhat, Sonitpur, Morigaon, Kamrup, Nalbari, Bongaigaon, Barpeta, Goalpara and Dhubri.
Interestingly, the economist-columnist Swaminathan Aiyar has donated 4 boats. Each boat costs between Rs 15-20 lakh as it has to be tailored to the special needs of the medical team, apart from having rooms for overnight stay, and clinics where doctors can examine patients and prescribe medicines. The boats also have a regular pharmacy for distribution of medicines, dispensing polio drops to children and treating pregnant and lactating women.
The medical team working on the boat clinic is in the field for 20 days a month. Doctors reach out to patients and visit their homes. The team conducts regular awareness programmes and the villagers listen intently as can be seem from the film screened on Saturday.
“Building toilets for flood affected areas is a challenge and no one has so far developed a successful model. This will be a challenge for us,” said Hazarika while answering queries from the audience.
He also informed that providing potable drinking water and sanitation to people living in these flood-hit areas is a challenge that needs to be met by NGOs and the Government.
Drawing attention to the abysmal health care in Assam and its high maternal and infant mortality rates Hazarika said, “Just 45 kms from Guwahati is a river bank where children suffer from worm infestations. Governments need to deliver basic health care because healthier families can look for alternative livelihoods.”