Children aged 12-23 months who are fully immunised in Rayagada district is only 34.9 per cent as against the State average of 68.8. It is almost 50 per cent of the State average. This could be the reason why Under 5 Mortality Rate (U5MR) is 98 whereas the State average is 75. The U5MR in neighbouring Koraput and Malkangiri districts is 65 and 73 respectively.The reason may be mostly due to the large numbers of left-out and drop-out children. lack of information and awareness, inability to accept immunisation and not knowing where to go and what to do, are some of the other reasons. This is truly reflected in the Dangaria Kandha tribal villages of Niyamagiri hills. In village Gortha, no child is ever immunised.
As far as information on immunisation is concerned, nobody knows about immunisation and its benefit of saving their children’s lives from seven killer diseases. No ANM, ASHA and AWW ever visit this village which is utmost interior and situated in the undulated terrain. There are score of villages like this.“It will be unethical to say that the children are dropping out from the complete dose of immunisation. So the coverage is less. In fact they are not dropped out but pushed out. As per the information of district Collector Jagannath Mohanty, only 50 doctors are in service in entire Rayagada district where as the need is 134. The scenario of other health personnel is extremely horrific. Even if the existing personnel are in place, they seldom go to interior villages. Some even put a plea of extremism and avoid going. The primary reason of child death is also malnutrition,” said RTI activist Rabindra Patakhandala.
K Singhpur is a stark example. In spite of orders from seniors, CDPO provided “Chhatua” infested with insects to children and lactating mothers. She still roams scot-free. The State cannot abdicate its responsibilities to quacks and providence of poor tribals by citing irrational reasons, he added.During a media sensitisation workshop recently conducted by PECUC, Bhubaneswar, facilitated by Ranjan Mohanty and Anuradha Mohanty and sponsored by UNICEF, where CDMO, ADMO, UNICEF Representative Dr Meena Som and Collector were present, these facts were revealed.