KASARAGOD: The government of Kerala has filed a series of half-truths in its affidavit to the Supreme Court and urged it to close a contempt of court petition filed by eight endosulfan victims.
The half-truths are in the area of strengthening health infrastructure in the district, particularly in the 11 gram panchayat affected by the aerial spraying of endosulfan. The government made the claims to satisfy the Supreme Court order, dated January 10, 2017, to provide "medical facilities or treatment for life-long health issues, arising out of the effects of endosulfan".
The New Indian Express fact-checks the claims made in the affidavit submitted to the Supreme Court on July 15. The next hearing of the contempt petition is on Monday, July 18.
Infrastructure development
Claim: As per the government order dated April 22, 2017, District Hospital in Kanhangad and General Hospital in Kasaragod were selected to be developed with super speciality services in neurology.
Reality: One post of neurologist was created for each of the two hospitals recently. The neurologists joined the General Hospital and the District Hospital.
The hospitals got electroencephalogram (EEG) machines on July 1, but technicians have not yet been appointed.
A neurology unit would require at least three neurologists and an interventional stroke care lab to provide super speciality service round the clock, said doctors.
To be sure, Kasaragod district does not have a tertiary care centre. The district hospital has set up a cath lab at a cost of Rs 9 crore in February 2021 but the government has not yet appointed a cardiologist.
Kasaragod DH does not have a forensic surgeon. General Hospital has one and is expected to do day and night post-mortem, as per a court order.
There is no doctor for radio diagnosis in the entire district. The District Hospital does not have a urologist, medical oncologist, cardiothoracic surgeon, pediatric surgeon, or even a gastroenterologist. "We can't even do an endoscopy," said a senior health official.
Claim: Community Health Centre (CHC) Mangalpady and CHC Panathady were developed as Taluk Hospitals.
Reality: All the four taluk hospitals in Kasaragod -- Mangalpady, Panathady, Nileshwar, and Trikaripur are functioning only as CHCs. They don't even take childbirth cases because none of the hospitals has gynaecologists or anaesthetists. "Each taluk hospital should have three gynaecologists and at least two anaesthetists so that they can take childbirth cases," said a doctor.
Now, the District Hospital and the General Hospital attend to all the birth cases in the district. Taluk hospitals refer even cases of dog bites to the District Hospital and General Hospital because they do not have anti-rabies serum.
The taluk hospitals on the National Highway should have trauma care.
Claim: Seventeen hospitals, including 3 private super speciality hospitals in the nearby district of Mangalore, were empanelled to provide Tertiary Care services freely for endosulfan patients. This facility mainly aims to provide multispecialty and critical care, cancer treatment, cardiac and neurology care.
Reality: Patients depend on these facilities outside the district for their treatment
Claim: For providing tertiary care facilities, there are two Government Medical Colleges. 1) Government Medical College, Pariyaram, Kannur, which is 22 km from the Kasaragod district border. 2) Government Medical College, Kasaragod, is also situated in an endosulfan-affected area. OP services for the public started on January 3, 2021. All speciality OPD and super speciality OPD, including neurology and nephrology are available there. Special consideration is being given for the treatment of endosulfan victims.
Reality: 1. The Government Medical College at Pariyaram in Kannur district is 40 km from the District Hospital in Kanhangad, which refers patients, and not 22km. For patients in far-flung endosulfan-affected areas such as Enmakaje panchayat, Pariyaram medical college is 90 to 100 km away.
2. The Kasaragod medical college is not functional. Ten specialist doctors offer outpatient consultations from January 2022 and not 2021. Their OP consultation has no infrastructure support. In November 2022, the state health minister said Kasaragod medical college will start admitting patients by May. No work is happening in the hospital block.
Claim: Operationalisation of Oncology department in district hospital Kanhangad and general hospital Kasaragod.
Reality: Kasaragod must be the only district without radiation therapy in the private or government sector. There is no medical oncologist either. There is one radiotherapist who offers chemotherapy. In some cases, patients will require chemotherapy and radiation, and in some cases, they will require chemo, radiation, and surgery.
Claim: Twelve posts were created for Women & Children Hospital, Kanhangad. They are seven staff nurses, two pharmacists, two clerks, and one office attendant.
Reality: The government inaugurated the hospital in February 2021 but remains closed till date. The hospital does not even have a power supply. The district medical office has proposed at least 200 posts for the hospital.
Claim: Physiotherapy unit is attached to the medical facility in the 11 endosulfan
panchayats. Fixed-day field visits of physiotherapists are provided to needy patients.
Reality: Physiotherapists in three endosulfan-affected panchayats are on maternity leave, and replacements have not been posted.
Claim: AnuYatra mobile unit - to deliver doorstep delivery of health care services among less than 18-year-old differently abled children in endosulfan affected areas commenced in November 2017. The team consists of a physiotherapist, speech therapist, psychologist, special educator.
Reality: The scheme is mostly on paper. Activists say the unit does have speech therapist, psychologist and special educator as claimed.
99% of endosulfan patients were given compensation.
The district administration has disbursed Rs 5 lakh compensation to 3,667 patients, said the state government's affidavit to the Supreme Court.
Now there are only 47 more people to get the compensation. Of them, applications of 25 victims are being processed by the village offices and the collectorate. Twenty-two patients are not been found, it said.
Collector Bhandari Swagat Ranveerchand has initiated steps to trace them. Notices have been published in newspapers and put up at the collectorate, taluk offices, village offices and panchayat offices. Names of the persons have been shared with NGOs, ASHA, and revenue officials.