Malaria continues to haunt Tamenglong
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, October 01 2009: A common protozoal infection like Malaria continues to remain the most dreaded disease among the people in the backward Tamenglong district of Manipur so much so that out of 33 CRPF personnel deployed in the district and got infected this year, one of them reportedly died.

When The Sangai Express conducted an inspection tour of the district to study the problem of Malaria recently, it came to light that infection and fatality from Malaria is a reality that the people have come to live with every year.

A woman carrying her child at the hospital with the IV drop

The risk of Malaria infection among the people in the villages located along Barak river is all the more and the fatality rate higher than elsewhere in the district.

In the current year, there has been no let up in the number of patients being brought to the District Hospital at Tamenglong for treatment of Malaria every month.

Within the last month itself, 16 patients were admitted while one case each was reported in May and August even as four others are still undergoing treatment at the hospital.

Ajuan Newmai, wife of Aringbow Newmai of Taningjam village, who is still undergoing treatment at the district hospital informed that her husband got infected while going to the paddy field for work.

Before knowing that he may have been infected with Malaria, her husband had stayed at home for around two weeks and he was admitted to the hospital later on.

Even if there is a dispensary in their village, there is no medicine, Ajuan disclosed, adding that spraying of insecticide to Mosquito larvae have also been ever carried out in their village.

''Malaria so common in our village.

But the Government has not provided any insecticide treated bed nets to protect from mosquito bite', she informed.

It is said that in August this year, 33 CRPF personnel posted at Sibilong have suffered from Malaria and were admitted at the Community Health Centre.

But of them later succumbed to the protozoal infection.

Nonetheless, when contacted, Chief Medical Officer of Tamenglong district Dr Chambo maintained that the cases of Malaria risk and fatality in the district have come down to a large extent after imparting proper training to Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs) appointed under the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) and introduction of Rapid Malaria Testing kits.

During the course of the inspection visit, The Sangai Express came across the records of many children admitted to the district hospital with cases of diarrhoea apart from five Measles cases.