THE Maharashtra government’s principal secretary, health, was issued a contempt notice Tuesday due to non-compliance of court orders.
Aamir Khan , Indian Express
Taking note of the abysmal condition of government health facilities that pushed a woman to give birth to a stillborn in February this year, the Bombay High Court had asked the government to set up the very basic facility, a primary health centre (PHC), in her village.
The government’s failure to abide by the direction resulted in Justices A S Oka and Gautam Patel issuing a contempt notice to the director of health services. On February 23 this year, 21-year-old Tulsa Wagh from Morushi village in Murbad Taluka, Thane, had narrated her ordeal owing to the dismal healthcare infrastructure. A couple of weeks before that, Tulsa was in labour and had to be taken to the rural hospital in Tokawade village, 14 km away from her house. She had to travel in a private vehicle suffering jolts on the bumpy road all the way as repeated attempts to call the 108 emergency ambulance service went in vain. And that was not the end of her plight.
Though two doctors examined her at the Tokawade hospital, she was referred to the UlhasnagarCentral Hospital, almost 60 km away, owing to poor infrastructure in the village. After a back-breaking ride during which her water broke, Tulsa reached the Ulhasnagar hospital where she gave birth to a stillborn after a caesarian section.
Incidentally, in 2013, a public interest litigation (PIL) had been filed regarding the dismal condition of the rural healthcare infrastructure.
Following the PIL, the High Court had in September 2013 ordered that the Tokawade Public Health Centre be replaced with the Tokawade Rural Hospital by December 31, 2013. To obviate the tribal population travelling long distances, the health authority had to set up a PHC at Morushi village. But when a team of lawyers and local activists visited the district later, they saw a different picture. A visit to the place by The Indian Express in February this year revealed that even though the signboard had changed, services in the hospital had not been upgraded.
The construction of the building was also incomplete. The team of lawyers and activists filed a fact-finding report based on Tulsa’s case and the grim reality of the medical aid on offer. The report titled ‘Denial of Maternal and Healthcare Service to Tulsa Wagh’ was presented to the court on August 12, 2015. Lawyers Mani Prakash and Meenaz Kakalia had also filed a contempt petition over inept medical services that had resulted in Tulsa’s situation – See more at: http://indianexpress.com/article/cities/mumbai/failure-to-set-up-phc-in-village-hc-issues-contempt-notice-to-principal-secy-health/#sthash.IEL7E02I.dpuf
In Murbad, a delivery is always ‘complicated
| Published:March 2, 2015 2:06 am
(Left) Used syringes lie in a box in the labour room; Jaya Songal and her husband. Jaya has been complaining of several health issues after her uterus was removed (Source: Express Photo) – See more at:
Govt affidavit in HC claims Tokewadi Rural Hospital ‘functional’, while PHC board has been replaced.
Tulsa Wagh seldom talks nowadays. Two weeks ago, she was in labour when her family from Moroshi village in Murbad taluka of Thane district took her to the rural hospital in Tokewadi village, 60 km away. They went in a private vehicle; calls to the 108 emergency ambulance service were futile. Six hours later, Tulsa was referred to the nearest bigger facility — Ulhasnagar Central Hospital, 60 km away. The Tokewadi rural Hospital could not handle her case. After her water broke at Tokewadi hospital and the foetus’s heart-rate dipping, Tulsa managed a back-breaking ride in a hospital ambulance to Ulhasnagar. There, she delivered a stillborn the moment she lay on the hospital bed. Tulsa’s is just another tragedy among many in Moroshi. In an affidavit filed by the Director of Health Services in the Bombay High Court last month, the government claimed that the Tokewadi centre is a ‘functional’ rural hospital with 15 sanctioned posts. But the reality is starkly different. The doctor who handled Tulsa’s case points to lack of infrastructure. “We cannot do a Cesarean delivery,” says Dr Kishore JadhavFollowing a HC order in September 2013, the Tokewadi Public Health Centre (PHC) was to have been replaced by the ‘Tokewadi Rural Hospital’ by December 31, 2013. The signboard has indeed changed, but services have not got an upgrade and the building remains incomplete. The government’s latest affidavit calls it “nearly complete”. Another staffer claimed the centre had provision for 25 staffers, including three medical officers, one medical superintendent, seven staff nurses and four ward boys. “Most of the posts haven’t been filled. We don’t even have an X-ray machine.
A rural hospital caters to over one lakh villagers but we have only six beds,” he says. Dr Jadhav, incidentally, sleeps in his chamber — the nearby quarters for doctors are a mess. “Rats scurry around over there,” he says. “PHCs in the area have Bachelor of Ayurvedic Medicine and Surgery doctors who are not allowed to carry out deliveries. We do not have MBBS doctors here. We visited Murbad taluka on Saturday. There is a need for substantial improvements,” Assistant Block Development Officer of Murbad, Sushant Patil, said. On Tulsa’s case, Patil said her foetus may have died inside her due to the bad condition of roads while she was being taken to Ulhasnagar. Nearly 120 km from Mumbai, the village of Moroshi with around 100 households is home to people mostly working as daily wage labourers.
Its own PHC has a similar tale. On February 23, the day Newsline visited, the doctor on deputation had just arrived. Dr Shreedhar Bansode said he received the letter asking him to join duty at Moroshi PHC only on February 6 and could join only on February 23. The Moroshi PHC has five doctors on deputation, on a rotational basis, but none has performed a delivery in the past month, records show. Activist Indvi Tulpule has filed a PIL in the HC. “Women in labour travel over 50 km without medical aid, leading to high maternal mortality rates,” says Tulpule.
This is despite the Janani Suraksha Yojana of the National Rural Health Mission providing for ‘ashaworkers’ or health workers to identify pregnant women and prepare a birth plan for each. Manda Wagh, who has not received her salary of Rs 500 for the past three months, reveals that workers like her have to attend to leprosy and TB patients too. In a recent meeting between villagers from Murbad and Shahapur talukas and the administration, several issues were discussed. “Around 60 per cent of total deliveries don’t get the guaranteed health services,” says Tulpule. – See more at: http://indianexpress.com/article/cities/mumbai/in-murbad-a-delivery-is-always-complicated/#sthash.0Fuo0eO7.dpuf
Kamayani Bali – Mahabal – A Kractivist with Multiple Personality Disorder ( MPD) which encompasses a clinical psychologist, journalist, lawyer and activist.
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