Malkangiri: Women health workers have to risk their lives climbing hills and wading through rivulets to provide healthcare in inaccessible and remote villages under state-sponsored Mission DAMAN (Durgama Anchalare Malaria Nirakaran).
In one such instance, health workers trekked the 3,000 ft-high Goi Hills to reach Medirikhal village in Sindirimal gram panchayat of Sadar block in Malkangiri district to check on the health condition of villagers and take blood samples for malaria.
The DAMAN programme has been taken up by Bandhaguda Upper Primary Health Centre and health workers have to visit their respective camp sites and test blood samples of children and pregnant women for malaria.
The health workers, mostly ASHAs and staff of Bandhaguda Upper Primary Health Centre – Devikumari Nayak, Urmila Dalei, Mude Padiam, Anganwadi worker Mona Sodigai, Ramesh Samant, supervisor Sukant Katarmi, sarpanch Samari Madkami, naib sarpanch Budura Madkami, samiti member Loknath — braved wild animals in the hills and reached the village.
Although, the team had to undergo untold sufferings to reach the village, residents welcomed the health workers and lauded their efforts.
In the first phase, the officials collected the blood samples to test for malaria and enquired about the food habits of the tribals including pregnant woman and children. The officials were pained to learn that tribals in the village were deprived of all basic facilities due to the bad road condition.
Inhabited by 10 tribal families, the village has been deprived of all basic facilities, including a concrete road, drinking water, Anganwadi, primary education, mobile network and electricity supply. They depend on forest produce for a living.
Interestingly, the tribals here mostly depend on herbs and roots to get well from diseases. After collecting information about the villagers’ problems, the health workers assured them to bring their plight to the notice of the higher-ups.
They later checked on the haemoglobin of pregnant women and immunised the children.
A health worker, on condition of anonymity, said they had to join the camp as it was a matter of livelihood for them but they didn’t know whether they would safely return home.
PNN
