Post News Network
Khairput, Nov 19: A five-year-old boy in remote Bonda ghat under this block of Malkangiri district died of malaria due to alleged medical negligence Thursday with the disease spreading its tentacle in the area which is home to scores of primitive Bonda tribals.
Ganesh Mandra, son of Mangala Mandra, died after battling with the disease for over five days. Family members claimed Ganesh would have survived had doctors at Mudulipada PHC attended to him properly.
Ganesh was first admitted to Mudulipada PHC where his fever rose as the doctor did not attend to him properly, Mangala said. They shifted him to Khairput CHC after his condition worsened.
Ganesh succumbed to his ailment while undergoing treatment. The incident has triggered panic in the region as several persons in Badpada, Dumuripada, Mudulipada and Badbel villages were learnt to have become bed-ridden after being affected by malaria. However, health officials were learnt to be least concerned about the development and have not sent a medical team to take stock of the situation, villagers alleged.
Medical officer Suman Kumar Tapan of Khairpur CHC said doctors at the health centre made all attempts to recuperate the boy when he was admitted to the hospital in critical condition. They, however, failed in their bid despite best efforts, he claimed. The body was then sent back home in an ambulance, he added.
Sources said Andrahal and Mudulipada panchayats of Bonda ghat are the most remote and malaria prone areas. These panchayats are isolated from the rest of the world as there are no communication facilities in the area. Superstition rules the roost here as people depend more on witchcraft and sorcery than medical care. The state government has formed mobile medical teams but they never visit these villages, locals alleged. PNN