DHARMAPURI: Eriyur residents urged the Health Department to upgrade the Primary Health Centre in their area to a Government Hospital. Residents said being a hilly area they find it difficult to access treatments for emergencies such as snake bites and childbirth.
Eriyur is a hamlet in Pennagaram and only has a Primary Health Centre, that merely offers first aid treatment. In the case of emergencies, patients are diverted to Mettur Government Hospital or to Dharmapuri Medical College Hospital.
R Nataraj, a resident of Eriyur said, “As most of the residents rely on agriculture for livelihood, the common medical emergency in Eriyur is snake bite. But, we cannot bring the people to the PHC for its treatment. Similarly, in the case of complications in Childbirth, we need to approach Mettur GH or Pennagaram GH which lie over 250 to 30 km away. As we live in a hilly region, ambulances are also scarce and the journey is long. So, it is important for a Government Hospital to be set up here.”
M Mariappan, a local business owner said, “Eriyur lies close to the Mettur dam and as the water rises areas around Nagamarai, Ottanur and other areas have water stagnation. Over time this results in lots of fever cases and the risk of an epidemic here is also high. While the PHC offers treatment, during the flu season, the doctors and nurses here are insufficient to cater for the sick people. We need more doctors and nurses here. This is only possible by upgrading the PHC to a GH.”
Officials in the Health department said, “The Doctors and nurses in the PHCs are capable and trained to handle emergency situations by offering first aid. In the case of a severe ailment, the patients are transferred to the Pennagaram GH for treatment via 108 ambulances. Regarding the demand for the GH, we in the district administration cannot comment on the matter. The decision is up to the Tamil Nadu government.”
Recently, a 21-year-old woman died in the Eriyur PHC during childbirth due to the lack of facilities. Parameshwari (21), gave birth to a baby boy on July 19. However, because of excessive bleeding the Eriyur PHC doctors transferred her to the Pennagaram GH. Doctors in Pennagaram GH again transferred her to the Dharmapuri Medical College hospital for treatment, where she died from excessive blood loss. On Friday, as many as 40 members of her family staged a protest over this and alleged that the poor treatment and negligence of the PHC staff led to the death of the woman.