HUNGER: ATTAPADY’S SILENT KILLER

HUNGER: ATTAPADY’S SILENT KILLER

Even after 65 years of independence, the infants of Attappady are dying of malnutrition. The tribal communities, alienated from their lands in the name of development, are beyond the pale of officialdom. Will the Centre's food security move ensure basic entitlements to these people on the margins?

The Health Department has sent a report to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) on 5^th August,2013,Monday on the steps taken for introducing a mother- and child-tracking system on its suggestion to track pregnant women and infants to help arrest the continuing death of tribal infants in Attappady.At the Agali Community Health Centre, a special cell for monitoring of infants and expectant mothers daily was set up, the report said.T.K.A. Nair, Adviser to the Prime Minister, after his visit to Attappady recently, wrote to Chief Secretary E.K. Bharat Bhushan on the measures to be taken to prevent the recurring tragedy.One of the main suggestions was for tracking pregnant women and children below 12 months of age. As many as 53 infants had died in Attappady during the past 17 months.

The report said 498 pregnant women in Attappady were due for delivery shortly and they were being tracked for special care. As many as 269 of them were tribal women and 163 were in the high-risk group.Twenty-five per cent of the pregnant tribal women were found to be anaemic. Those in the high-risk category were given special medical care and food supplements, Prabhudas, Deputy District Medical Officer and Nodal Officer of the Health Department in Attappady, said in the report.He said two health officials had been entrusted with the care of every pregnant woman. They would monitor their health and provide medical and other help.The women would be admitted to hospital well in advance of the expected delivery date, Dr. Prabhudas said.The report said 32 infant deaths took place out of 1,144 deliveries in a year from March 2012. Twenty were neonatal deaths and 12 infant deaths.

The primary health centre at Anakatty recorded 176 delivery cases, two neonatal deaths and one infant death.In the Sholayur centre, these were 190, eight and four, respectively, and in Pudur, 193, five and three.In the Agali Community Health Centre, out of the 210 delivery cases, three neonatal and two infant deaths were reported.A government doctor, who has delivered 3,000 babies in the tribal hamlet of Attappady working with the miserably poor people for 15 years, says that he has not encountered a single expecting mother consuming alcohol.Countering politicians’ claim of alcoholic mothers causing infant deaths, Prabhu Das, former chief medical officer of the Kottathara Government Tribal Specialty Hospital and presently deputy district medical officer of Palakkad, insists that unemployment and poverty have led to the crisis. He is also the nodal officer to coordinate the implementation of health programmes among Scheduled Tribes in Palakkad .Thirty-four infants from the tribal community at Attappady lost their lives in the last six months. While the people of the tribe grieved over the death of their young, the response from some State Cabinet Ministers, including the Minister for Scheduled Tribes, was to say that alcohol consumption among pregnant mothers was the cause for some of these deaths. The tribals, along with doctors and activists who have worked among the tribe for years, condemned the Ministers’ attempts to dismiss the issue of child deaths.

“No pregnant tribal woman who had consumed liquor was brought to the hospital in all the time I was there. I have delivered nearly 3,000 babies and there was not one case where the mother had been drinking,” said Dr. Prabhu Das, who has around 15 years of experience working in Attappady. Dr. Prabhu Das said that while some of the older women in the tribe may consume country liquor, younger women and pregnant mothers did not drink.A former employee of the Attappady Hills Area Development Society who has worked closely with the local villagers said the Ministers’ statement was a cruel joke on the women who had been protesting against alcoholism in the tribe for several years. “Women are the victims of alcoholism in the tribe. They have been fighting to protect the tribe from liquor lords who exploit the vulnerable people of the tribe,” said the activist. Instead of blaming the people, the government should focus on enforcing the ban on brewing of country liquor, he said.The central issue in Attappady, said Dr. Prabhu Das, is that the people could not find employment. “There are no initiatives to create jobs for the tribal people. They would only be happy to practice farming and produce their own food,” said Dr. Prabhu Das.

Prof. John Kurakar