Kala-azar toll hits 4 :Locals blame hospital carelessness

MANGALPUR (RAUTAHAT), May 21 - Family members of the four deceased - due to Kala-azar epidemic in the area - have blamed carelessness on the part of doctors at Gaur hospital for the death of patients.
Jeena Magar, 9, Shankar Asmali, 12, Som Maya Majhi, 65, and Amrit Sahani of Mangalpur in Paurai VDC died of the illness in the last one month. Seven other Kala-azar patients have died in the village in the last two years.

Locals complained about doctors' laxity in Gaur hospital when a team of medical experts reached the village on Monday. According to Nirmala Magar, a Kala-azar patient, doctors in Gaur hospital "only give injection" to patients. "They send us home even when we complain of aggravating condition," she said.

According to Nanda Kishor Chaudhary, Vector Control Assistant at Gaur Hospital, 30 locals of Mangalpur area in Paurai VDC are suffering from the lethal epidemic at present. However, locals said that while 27 of the total affected patients returned home after receiving treatment, the condition of three patients remains critical due to lack of proper treatment.

Meanwhile, doctors at the hospital refuted the locals' allegations, claiming that patients coming to the hospital were given proper treatment. "We send the patients only after assuring their sound health," said Braj Kishor Thakur, a doctor at the hospital. "The charge is baseless, because none of the patients coming here have gone elsewhere for treatment."