CUTTACK: Malnutrition among the children remains an unresolved health issue despite the State Government’s several schemes to fight it. A case in point is Baideswar Sevashram School under Banki block. Around 30 students of the school, functioning under SC/ST Development department, have been affected by Phrynoderma, a kind of skin disease that is usually caused by vitamin A deficiency. Patches like toad skin have developed on the elbows of the affected students with the eruptions often causing irritation and resulting in scars due to infection.
With local doctors failing to identify and treat the disease, the school authorities took the help of Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram (RBSK) and admitted some of the affected students in SCB Medical College and Hospital (SCBMCH) on Monday. The doctors in Skin and Venereal Disease department diagnosed them to be suffering from Phrynoderma due to malnutrition.
“The children are suffering from malnutrition. Look into the matter and do the needful,” advised the treating doctor to the school authorities in the prescription. Headmaster of the school Brahma Nanda Sahu declined to comment on the matter. Banki Block Education Officer Ashok Mohanty said he has received a report in this regard from the Cluster Resource Centre Coordinator (CRCC). The BDO and the Welfare Extension Officer (WEO) are looking into the matter, he added.