Three die of cholera

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 23 September 1998, 15:15 GMT]
Three civilians died of Cholera yesterday in the Liberation Tigers controlled hinterlands west of Valaichenai said medical sources in Batticaloa. All three were from the interior hamlet of Poolaakaadu; and according to preliminary reports, about hundred persons in the region may already be down with the epidemic.

A special medical team under the Valaichenai Medical Officer of Health (MOH) S.Thadchanamoorthy, assisted by the ICRC, was despatched today to deal with the situation.

Fifteen patients with Cholera have been admitted to the Valaichenai hospital from the western hinterland.

The MOH has identified the interior hamlets of Poolaakaadu, Pondukalchenai, Murukkanthivu, Pirambadithivu, Saaraveli and Thihilivettai as exposed to the epidemic.

The vast region west of Valaichenai is controlled by the Liberation Tigers. Medical and health facilities in the region are nil due to SLA restrictions said a public health official in Valaichenai.

The large number of interior hamlets here have very limited access to medical or public health facilities as there is neither public nor private transport service in the hinterland.

Patients in some these interior hamlets have to be carried as far as 22 kilometers to reach the SLA controlled coastal road from Batticaloa to Valaichenai, the nearest town.

Related Articles:
13.09.98   Batticaloa fears cholera epidemic