VIJAYAWADA: Expressing dismay over the laxity of State government in addressing the increasing chronic kidney diseases in A Konduru mandal and other surrounding areas in Krishna district, APCC chief N Raghuveera Reddy demanded the State government declare a health emergency in the region.
“The number of CKD patients and deaths have increased, but the government has failed to even fill the vacancies in the area hospital here. There are no nephrologists and dialysis centres,” he fumed.
On Monday, Raghuveera Reddy along with party State general secretary Rajiv Rathan and others visited CKD victims in Deepali Nagar Thanda, Mansingh Thanda and other villages in A Konduru mandal. He also interacted with the family of Jamaliah, who succumbed to CKD recently.
He said it was shocking that no measures were taken to address the issue, even as the number of kidney patients’ cases is increasing in these villages.
“Today, I visited two tribal villages. Out of the 500 population, 184 people were tested and of them, 84 were found to be suffering from kidney disease and most of them have to be given dialysis. But, in Tiruvuru Area Hospital, which caters to the medical needs of the villages in A Konduru and other mandals, there are no nephrologists and there is a shortage of doctors,” he told mediapersons.
According to him, the sanctioned doctors’ post at Tiruvuru Area Hospital is 14, but at present, there are only five doctors and of them, only two are on regular roles. Further, there is a dialysis centre and but there is no proper lab facility to diagnose the diseases. “Most of the people here are poor and cannot afford costly treatment in cities. But they are being forced to go to private hospitals due to lack of proper facilities in the government hospital,” he said.
He said till two years ago, Nagarjuna Sagar water used to flow to these mandals, but now with no water from Nagarjuna Sagar, the groundwater levels have depleted in these areas.“Experts say the increasing content of minerals like silicon are more in the water drawn from deep borewells and consuming the same is one of the reasons for the kidney related disorders,” he said.
The Congress leader pointed out that Congress government has sanctioned `15 crore for drinking water pipelines to these villages for the supply of Nagarjuna Sagar (Krishna) water, but those funds were diverted to other purposes by the present government. “It is high time the government corrects the lapses and addresses the issue,” he said.