On the afternoon of August 10 last year when Ayub Khan, 9, returned home from school he complained of giddiness. That very night he ran high fever. His father Idris took the child to nearby PHC the next morning where the ward boy, who was attending OPD in the absence of doctor, asked him to take Ayub to BRD Medical College, Gorakhpur because he had suffered encephalitis attack.
When Idris asked for ambulance to take Ayub to hospital - it was not there.
"The villagers came to my rescue. One of the men standing in the PHC offered lift in his tractor and dropped us at the hospital. Had not I got lift from that good Samaritan my child would not have been alive now," Idris, a resident of Bangla Tola village, in Gorakhpur told The Pioneer.
Stories galore in eastern Uttar Pradesh as how lack of government facilities gave aggravated encephalitis problem in that region.
"The response time in encephalitis attack should be quick. If the patient could reach hospital within 2-3 hours of attack his chances of survival are high. Otherwise the doctors cannot do anything," Dr K.P. Kushwaha, Principal Baba Raghav Das Medical College, Gorakhpur said.
Idris was lucky in many senses. A villager transported his son to hospital and when he required money villagers pooled in mullah for him. "I do not know who gave money and how much. But it was villagers who came forward and gave us the financial help," he said.
Deepak, 3, suffered encephalitis attack almost the same time last year. The residents of village Tulsipur in Campairganj first took him to local quack and then to PHC. "The PHC was closed and we took Deepak to BRD Medical College," Ram Gupta, his father said.
The delay in transporting Deepak to BRD Medical college hospital affected his brain. Doctors have declared him mentally retarded.
Doctors in the BRD Medical College too admit that lack of support from the PHCs has aggravated the situation. Dr K.P. Kushwaha, said: "The state-run clinics in villages should give initial treatment to children. As medicines and treatments are not available in these clinics the parents are forced to take their children to BRD Medical College. By the time they reach here it is too late." Dr Bharat, a senior resident in the encephalitis ward of BRD College dittoes his boss’s statement: "It is very pathetic to see small children die or get disabled. Majority of the patients who come to us are in serious condition. The parents who can afford take his child to private nursing home. When the condition starts deteriorating the nursing home refers the case to us. And then, we cannot do anything."
A debate is raging in eastern UP about in-efficiency of PHC in dealing with encephalitis related cases. Doctors say BRD Medical College was meant to impart medical education not treat encephalitis cases.
A practicing Pediatrician and BJP law maker in Gorakhpur Dr Radha Kant Agarwal said: "The patients should get treatment of encephalitis in PHCs and other government hospitals. Precious time is lost in transferring the child from village to BRD Medical College. When everyone knows eastern Uttar Pradesh is encephalitis endemic region why cannot we have specialized clinics in every PHC." The PHC doctors have their own arguments.
Dr Dharmendra Kumar Tiwari, in-charge 8-beded PHC Sukhrauli, Kushinagar, 30 km south-east lucknow says: "We get almost 190 patients every day. They are of common types suffering from common cold, fever and stomachache. In case of encephalitis patient we refer the case to Gorakhpur because we do not have specialized treatment. We have medicines but these are not good enough."