By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: A training programme on malaria control for the traditional practitioners of the State was conducted at Patharkhmah village in Ri Bhoi district on Thursday.
Organised by Caritas India, Futures Group International India Pvt. Ltd, Society for Promotion of Indigenous Knowledge and Practices (SPIKAP) and Department of Health, the programme looked to mobilise the traditional practitioners into contributing towards the cause of eradicating the disease.
Seeking the cooperation of the traditional healers, Ri Bhoi DHMO, Dr Momin, said that the methods used by the traditional healers to treat malaria by using a particular bitter leaf, can contribute to the campaign against the disease.
“It is important to understand that this issue needs to be approached with the ABCD technique — A Awareness, B – one gets bitten during dawn or dusk, C- Chemoprophylaxis –
completing the treatment, and D – proper diagnosis and testing of blood samples through Rapid Test at the PHC, or in the hospitals),” he elaborated.
‘Healers’ from eleven far flung villages like Mawdem, Bilahari, Old Jirang, Pathardharo, Mawskei Them, Warmawsaw etc. along the Meghalaya-Assam border participated in the training programme.
SPIKAP chairman, John F Kharshiing, expressed his gratitude to the government and Futures Group for agreeing to visit these far flung areas for spreading the awareness on preventive and curative measures on Malaria.
He also said that similar programmes have been scheduled in the remote corners of the State.