Rains are a routine phenomenon; what the city suffers from is the lack of medical facilities at the government hospitals. Machine which could extract platelets from the blood of a patient was brought only a few years ago. They too have remained unused, writes Farooq Qureshi
Despite tall claims of the authorities that Dengue and Malaria have been effectively checked in the city, the ground reality is different. There is lack of preventive action; there is no support system to cater to the needs of the patients.
At least 23 cases of these diseases have been reported in the State capital and efforts of agencies assigned to control them remain ineffective.
After the number of persons diagnosed with dengue went up, the Integrated Disease Surveillance Project (IDSP) authorities, responsible for detection and proper response to the disease, instructed the district administration to remain vigilant for at least a month.
Rains are a routine phenomenon; what the city suffers from is the lack of medical facilities at the government hospitals. Machine which could extract platelets from the blood of a patient was brought only a few years ago. They too have remained unused.
If a person is tested positive for Dengue, platelets become a life-saver for the patient, but the Jai Prakash hospital which has the machine which can extract platelets from the blood of a donor, refuses to do anything about it. In the past, when platelets were demanded from the hospital, the authorities blandly to provide the services and said the government had not provided them platelets.
A single unit of platelet costs around Rs 4,500 and depending upon the severity, several units may be required to save the patient.
Their negligence came to the fore when it was found that the authorities had been using ineffective insecticides for vector control for the past two years despite 200 people dying due to malaria and dengue in the State.
It was found that substandard 10,000 litres of pyrethrum insecticide worth Rs 50.70 lakh was used and the firm concerned was contacted to replace the insecticide but till date the replacement is awaited. Two years on, District Malaria Office in Bhopal is waiting for new stocks of pyrethrum, with just 20 litres remaining in its stocks.
Ineffectiveness of the insecticide surfaced after 40 dengue deaths were reported in Sidhi district in 2011 after which the Health department admitted that the pyrethrum supplied was ineffective. During investigations by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), it was found that the pyrethrum extract was of inferior quality.
In August, around two dozen people were affected by Dengue.
When the number of cases went up, District Malaria department and Bhopal Municipal Corporation in a combined effort to fight the disease formed teams to survey the affected areas and identify the reason behind the increase in spread of the disease in the city.
Chief Medical Officer of Bhopal district, Pankaj Shukla said the hospital had the facility to provide platelets, but relatives of patients were required for the purpose. Till date, he said just one patient of Rajgarh had faced problems in getting platelets as he was not getting a donor and he was charged for the facility as platelets had to be procured from Gandhi Medical College.
Shukla said that platelets could not be stored and as it had a very short shelf life. So, if a patient does not have a donor, it becomes difficult to arrange platelets for the patients.
Besides, patients in severe conditions require platelets and in a majority of cases donors are available. In very few cases, when donors are not available, said Shukla.
Defending the arrangements and facilities, Shukla claimed that a private hospital charges Rs 9,000 for providing platelet kit to patients. In Government hospitals, however, this is free. Even the Elisa test for the detection of the disease is fee. Besides, medicine stocks are available in all district hospitals.
So far, two persons afflicted with Dengue in Bhopal, have died. Nine cases were reported from Arera Colony, while three cases were reported from Raisen road area. The other cases were reported from Sehore, Rajgarh and Betul.
According to IDSP report, the first case this season was reported from E-7 of Arera Colony on July 6. So far about 10 cases of dengue have been reported from this area.
District Malaria Officer KK Bajpai said that for the last two weeks the whole city has been surveyed and the most affected parts like Arera Colony was under strict vigil.
Bajpai emphasized on the need to create awareness through media but said that several awareness camps, the people were not ready to mend their ways. Sample areas were surveyed and the people were informed about the vector-borne diseases and also about the ways to prevent it. Besides, insecticides were sprinkled in the area.
A show-cause notice has also been issued to the former District Malaria Officer, Padmakar Tripathi, for not informing the authorities about the sub-standard quality and ineffectiveness of the insecticide, he said.
All the factors ranging from inadequate medical facilities to lack of effective insecticides and excessive rainfall this season, are responsible for the spread of diseases. What is important, however, is the spread of awareness, including the treatment and early diagnosis can change the scene.