Trinco meet highlights poor medical facilities in Muttur east

[TamilNet, Saturday, 04 January 2003, 19:11 GMT]
The Consortium of Trincomalee District Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) Saturday met at Trincomalee Social Service Centre hall and made an urgent appeal to the North East Provincial Ministry of Health to appoint medical officers to the rural hospitals in Muttur east to provide better basic medical attention to villagers, sources said

"Around forty five villagers were bitten by snakes and two of them died in the last two months in Eachchilampathu division in the Muttur east, Liberation Tigers held areas in the Trincomalee district due to non-availability of medical facilities," said the representative of an NGO, "Virudcham," a support arm of the Trincomalee Youth Development Organization, at the NGO meeting.

Mr.T.Thavasilingam, Chairman of the Consortium presided.

The Eachchilampathu government hospital is without a medical officer for the last twelve years. Recently a medical officer was posted to the said hospital with great difficulties. However, the medical officer was transferred within few days' time through a directive from the Provincial Ministry of Health. Since then the hospital is closed, said the "Virudcham" representative.

One of the snakebite victims was a fourteen-year-old student Jeyakanthan and another woman of Ilankathurai Muhathuwaram. Jeyakanthan was a bright student and was to sit for the G.C.E.O/L examination in 2004. When he was asleep in his hut he was bitten by a snake. As the nearby Eachilampathu hospital is defunct without a medical officer, he was first taken to Seruvila hospital which is several kilometers away from Ilankathurai Muhathuwaram. As there were no facilities to provide treatment for snakebite victims, he was then taken to Muttur hospital. Thereafter he was taken to Trincomalee general hospital. The boy died two days after admission at the Trincomalee general hospital. His life could have been saved if prompt medical attention was provided, medical sources said.

This tragic incident was brought to the notice of the meeting .

It was also pointed out at the meeting that about thirty-five persons were bitten by snakes at Pattalipuram village alone in the Muttur east last month.