Health workers play key role in redeeming Karaikal from cholera

The story of scores of frontline workers who took guard & won the battle against a public health emergency that hit Karaikal.
K Vembu, one of the ASHA workers on the ground to sensitise public, as Karaikal waged a battle against cholera outbreak | Express
K Vembu, one of the ASHA workers on the ground to sensitise public, as Karaikal waged a battle against cholera outbreak | Express

KARAIKAL: Sweating profusely, P Kalaivani, a 42-year-old anganwadi worker, stopped walking for a minute to catch her breath. But it’s not the time to rest; she has to tramp long stretches of Polagam to enlighten people about the urgency of being hygienic. Kalaivani is one of the many unsung heroes from Karaikal district who worked seamlessly to curb the cholera outbreak that hit the district a few weeks ago.

Nearly 2,900 people had already fallen prey to gastrointestinal diseases in the district in two months. Over 750 had been admitted to hospitals. In July, the directorate of health and family welfare in Puducherry declared an unprecedented ‘public health emergency’ in Karaikal.

The department soon stumbled on the bizarre truth: the disease spread was due to contamination of drinking water. They realised the importance of sensitising people. “But public advisory and mass media communication did not seem enough. So, we deployed support staff — anganwadi workers, ASHA workers, auxiliary nurse midwives and lady health visitors (LHVs) — to educate each family,” says Dr K Mohanraj, the nodal officer from Puducherry health department for cholera outbreak control.

The mass contamination was so acute. The workers trudged kilometres of rugged roads under the scorching sun, went door-to-door and talked about the ‘do’s and don’ts’ to follow in a cholera-affected area. They had to carry drinking water themselves.

U Umamaheshwari, an anganwadi worker hailing from a fisherfolk family in Karaikalmedu, reached out to every house in Akkampettai village and reminded people to carry clean and treated drinking water in their boats as they go for fishing. “I advised them to keep fly infestation out of the seafood they bring. Many listened and followed,” she says.

Visiting hundreds of houses in a month was taxing for workers as another threat in the form of Covid-19 started lurking in Karaikal. The workers were armed with a mask, water bottles, registers, pamphlets and a determination to not relent from their duties. “We also had to deal with our families and ensure that we do not fall ill due to covid or cholera,” says S Ezhilarasi, a 53-year-old supervisor of LHVs in Nedungadu.

Field workers like auxiliary nurse midwives (ANMs) identified local sources of contamination, such as compromised water pumps and contaminated overhead tanks, and helped PWD fix them. As ANMs are used to regularly visiting houses to meet pregnant women and adolescent girls, they helped to identify diarrhoea clusters easily and assisted the health workers in reaching remote areas to take water samples.

M Kayathri Venkat, a 32-year-old auxiliary nurse midwife from Neravy, said, “Usually, it would take an entire month to cover our target population. But, during the outbreak we covered it in a week to control the disease as soon as possible.”

Among health workers, the ASHA workers receive the lowest income. Yet, they played a huge role in spreading awareness without any hesitancy. K Vembu, a 35-year-old ASHA worker, said there were many people like labourers and farm workers who could not read the pamphlets they distributed. “We read out the contents for them to ensure they are sensitised.”

The combined efforts paid off as Karaikal overcame cholera sooner than expected. The people believe that these superheroes who flew across the district, ensuring the public’s health, are the solid reason behind this relief.The Karaikal district administration and Puducherry’s health and family welfare department have lauded the field workers for their efforts in controlling the outbreak.

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