Death toll rises to 104
Agartala: Escalating malaria toll continues across Tripura over a month that reached the figure of death to 104 with the demise of three people including two minors in past 24 -hrs.
While government pressed a chopper into service for holding health camps and distribution of medicines in interior locations of the state and brought all medical professionals as well as organizations including NGO into action, opposition Congress demanded to declare it malaria epidemic and host judicial probe into the outbreak.
Health Minister Badal Choudhury today reiterated that the state government mobilised it’s entire machinery to control the disease and further outbreak but in a few cases the victims did not take medicines as advised by the doctors that aggravated the situation.
He however, asserted that state government has taken all possible measures to deal with the situation and cancelled leave of all the medicos and non-medicos.
Moreover, health department has directed the doctors and paramedical staff to visit all the villages and hamlets with rapid diagnosis kits and medicines. “All 12 ministers and all the Commissioners and Secretaries are given responsibility to supervise the malaria control measures undertaken by the health department at block level besides, mobilizing doctors to hold special camps at community level,” said Choudhury. ‘
There is a huge shortage of medicines for critical patients suffering from malaria in Tripura,’ Choudhury said, adding that the state government has sent an SOS to Tripura officials in Guwahati, Kolkata and Delhi to urgently send adequate quantities of anti-malarial medicines.
According to report, malaria has spread out even in the towns and cities now. A 3 -yrs old Jenesi Reang and 18 -months old Arpita Das died of malaria in Kanchanpur hospital while Chandrabati Reang (40) died in Kashitai hamlets of Chailengta after a brief sufferings of high fever on Thursday.
The health department officials stated more than one lakh people of different ages have been admitted with fever and complain of stomach upset in 1800 odd hospitals and dispensaries of different categories in Tripura where more than 17000 were identified the carrier of plasmodium felciparum.
They also informed that French founded non-government international medical organization Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) has also sent a three-member team with medicines to help in controlling the outbreak of malaria in Tripura.
Meanwhile, Congress spokesperson and a renowned physician Dr Ashok Sinha alleged that the outbreak was due to failure of the state government because the department has been supplying low standard medicines to the malaria patients over the months.
“Instead of ACT-SP the department is supplying ACT-AL for malaria patients, which is an outdated protocol of treatment and as result, the medicines are not responding properly to the disease,” Dr Sinha said adding only Rs 1.34 Cr was spent for malaria control against the total sanction amount of Rs 8.37 Cr in last year.
He also alleged despite having more patients affected with plasmodium felciparum, the department procured only 1000 tablets in the first quarter of the current fiscal and now most of the hospitals were running shortage of proper medicines.
Dr Sinha demanded probe into the outbreak of malaria by a sitting High Court judge because the state government is failed to ensure proper health service to the people and there is a big racket working in procurement of medicines. (UNI)