KENDRAPARA: Despite tall claims of the government, access to healthcare continues to remain a challenge in remote pockets of the coastal district. The ground reality paints a grim picture with hordes of patients failing to get access to healthcare facilities and the latest casualty of this apathy is Narottam Nayak (65), a resident of seaside Jungalagheri village in Mahakalapada block.
Narottam fell seriously ill after suffering from diarrhoea and other ailments and since Jungalagheri does not have a road, two villagers carried him in a makeshift sling for three km before crossing Ramachandi river. The villagers then waited for two hours for an 108 ambulance to reach the government hospital at Mahakalapada, around 12 km from the river ghat. But the wait proved costly for Narottam who succumbed before the ambulance could reach the spot.
The death could have been avoided if the village had a road, said Sarat Nayak who carried Narottam to the river ghat and brought his body back to the village. “Nothing has changed in the village in the last 30 years. Clean water, sanitation, infrastructure and healthcare remain a challenge for the locals. Apart from Jungalagheri, several other villages in Mahakalapada and Rajnagar blocks are still deprived of basic amenities due to indifference of officials and public representatives,” he alleged.
Abhiram Mandal, a retired school teacher of Petachena village, said the sight of patients being carried on slings or makeshift stretchers to primary health centres from remote villages is a common sight. The few villages which have hospitals nearby do not have doctors. In such a situation, the locals have no option but to travel to Kendrapara town for treatment.
Monsoon is a challenging time for residents of remote villages. The season brings with it water-borne diseases which if not treated on time can prove disastrous. Senior Congress leader of Mahakalapada Gyanaranjan Beura said healthcare system in remote coastal villages is in a shambles. To make matters worse, a lot of villagers rely on quacks which puts their lives at risk. “The distance and lack of transportation facilities often prevent pregnant women from reaching the health centres, particularly during sudden onset of labour,” he said.
Contacted, block development officer (BDO) of Mahakalapada Debashis Rout said, “Jungalagheri is a remote village. We have recently started construction of a road under MGNREGS in the village.” Admitting the problem of shortage of doctors at hospitals, chief district medical officer of Kendrapara Dr Anita Patnaik said of the sanctioned 62 sanctioned posts of doctors at the district headquarters hospital, 38 are lying vacant since the last over one year.
The community health centre (CHC) at Mahakalapada needs 18 doctors but has only eight. Of the 224 sanctioned posts of doctors across the district, 103 are lying vacant. “We have already informed the authorities concerned about the vacancies and hope it will be looked into soon,” Dr Patnaik added.