Kerala - Malnutrition claims more lives in Attappady

[Ronan Kelly]

Malnutrition claims five lives in Attappady
G. PRABHAKARAN


ITDP officer?s report says 2 children undergoing treatment

Four tribal children and a woman have died of malnutrition in the Attappady hills during the past month, and two children are undergoing treatment for the condition in hospitals, a report by the Integrated Tribal Development Project (ITDP) officer says.
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A two-and-a-half-year-old child of Rangamma and Shelvan, died in the Government Medical College Hospital, Thrissur, after being shifted there from the Kottathara tribal specialty hospital, where it was first admitted on March 22. The child weighed 2 kg (4.4 lb).

In Pudur grama panchayat, a child, weighing 900 grams (2 lb), of Lakshmi and Kumar died in February this year.

At Nellipathy Ooru in Agali grama panchayat, twins born to Ponnamma and Maruthan, died within a week of their birth. One of the children, weighing 650 grams (1.4 lb), died immediately after birth and the other, weighing 1.045 kg (2.3 lb), died a week later.
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http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/kerala/malnutrition-claims-five-lives-in-attappady/article4592083.ece

[Ronan Kelly]

Re: Kerala - Malnutrition claims five lives in Attappady

More malnutrition deaths

Two babies die on Tuesday; number of deaths touches 27

Three more tribal children died from malnutrition in the Attappady hills, taking the number of such deaths to 27 in the past 15 months.

The baby of Meenakshi and Nagan of Edavani, a Kurumba tribal hamlet in the Pudur grama panchayat limits, died soon after birth in the Tribal Specialty Hospital at Kottathara on Tuesday evening.
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In another case, Meenakshi, 11-month-old daughter of Meena and Rajendran of Aralikoonam of Bhoothayar hamlet in the Pudur grama panchayat limits, died in a private hospital in Coimbatore on Monday.
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In another case newly reported from Aralikoonam, the 45-day-old daughter of Mankikhandan and Saraswathy died of malnutrition in the hamlet in the last week of December.
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http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/kerala/more-malnutrition-deaths/article4624315.ece

[Ronan Kelly]

Re: Kerala - Malnutrition claims more lives in Attappady

PALAKKAD, May 25, 2013
Infant deaths continue in Attappady

STAFF REPORTER

THE HINDU

The death of tribal infants continue in Attappady with the death of two more infants on Thursday and Friday taking the toll to 51 during the last 16 months when the infants started weathering like dry leaves.

During the last two days two of them died and another had died during last month but was not reported.

On Thursday night, the infant of Sharada and Durai of Melemully in Pudur Grama Panchayat died at Kottathara Tribal Specialty Hospital. The infant died soon after the delivery. The mother was shifted to Palakkad District Hospital for further treatment as she had high blood pressure.

On Friday evening, the infant of Rajamma and Murugan of Mele Ooru in Agali Grama Panchayat died at a private hospital at Anakatti. It was a premature birth on the seventh month of pregnancy.
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Meanwhile an eight-member Central team that had reached Attappady on May 20 to study the causes of death of large number of infants found that the worst affected of malnutrition are the pregnant women and adolescent girls.
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http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/kerala/infant-deaths-continue-in-attappady/article4750360.ece

[Ronan Kelly]

Re: Kerala - Malnutrition claims more lives in Attappady

One more child death reported in Attapadi
Posted on: 28 May 2013

Palakkad: One more child died due to malnourishment in Attapadi on Tuesday. The 4-month old child of Veeraswamy and Lakshmi died taking the total death toll to 28 in a span of 6 months in Attapadi.

Union minister Kodikunnil Suresh will be reaching Attapadi on Tuesday along with UNICEF team and World Health Organisation team to study about the death of children due to malnourishment. The team will visit Nellipathy Ooru, Agaly PHC, Kadambara Ooru and Kottathara hospital. A total of 40 child deaths were reported in the place during one and half years.
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http://www.mathrubhumi.com/english/story.php?id=136458

[Ronan Kelly]

Re: Kerala - Malnutrition claims more lives in Attappady

KERALA

ATTAPPADY (PALAKKAD), June 3, 2013
Attappady deaths: VS demands relief

STAFF REPORTER



Leader of Opposition V.S. Achuthanandan has demanded the Government to pay compensation to the tribal families whose children died of malnutrition in Attappady.

Addressing a press conference here on Monday after visiting the tribal hamlets of Nellippathy and Kandiyoor and the Kottathara Tribal Specialty Hospital, Mr. Achuthanandan has said that the tribal who have no employment and food are starving should be provided six months free ration.
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http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/kerala/attappady-deaths-vs-demands-relief/article4778549.ece

KERALA

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, June 4, 2013
Reshaped health intervention sought in Attappady

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT


Additional DHS submits report to State government

Health interventions in Attappady must be remodelled so that protein supplementation programmes get priority over iron and folic acid supplementation.

This is because acute protein malnourishment during pregnancy and its subsequent health impact on the infants born to the mothers is the main cause of the high infant and neonatal mortality in Attappady, according to a report submitted to the government by N. Sreedhar, Additional Director of Health Services (DHS), Health and Family Welfare, who had visited several hamlets in Attappady.

He has pointed out the fact that the haemoglobin levels of ante-natal women in Attappady does not seem to be improving despite adequate iron and folic acid supplementation. Majority of the women are of short stature and their weight gain during pregnancy is highly inadequate.
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http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/kerala/reshaped-health-intervention-sought-in-attappady/article4781171.ece

[Ronan Kelly]

Re: Kerala - Malnutrition claims more lives in Attappady

A sad story of exploitation of tribal people taking the only asset they have - their land. Please follow the link to read the entire article. - Ro


52 infant deaths in the past 16 months; 28 this year alone. What’s killing tribal babies in the Attapadi hills? By Jeemon Jacob

2013-06-15 , Issue 24 Volume 10
ON 28 MAY, as the rest of Kerala was eagerly waiting for the monsoon rains, a distraught Veera Swami performed the last rites of his four-month- old son in Pagalayur village. It was the 28th infant death this year in the picturesque Attapadi hills populated by tribals in Palakkad district. In the past 16 months, the people here have buried 52 infants.
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[KA Ramu, a tribal] activist says he conducted a survey in 2012 and found that 776 deaths were reported from Attapadi in January 2011- June 2012. Almost 70 percent of the victims were tribals. Another significant find, he adds, was that 90 percent of the dead belonged to the 35-45 age group. “During the same period, only 519 births were reported from the region. A majority of the deaths were due to starvation,” he says.
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According to him, the current health crisis is not a new phenomenon. “The health standards of the tribal population in the area have been falling for a long time,” says Dr Prabhudas. “Their food habits and lifestyle have changed. Earlier, they used to eat rich nutritious food cultivated in their farms. Now they eat substandard rice provided by ration shops for Rs 1 a kg.”

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http://tehelka.com/from-the-cradle-into-the-grave/

[Ronan Kelly]

Re: Kerala - Malnutrition claims more lives in Attappady

KERALA

PALAKKAD, July 3, 2013
Two more tribal children die in Attappady
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After a gap of one month, a 5-day-old child born to a Kurumba tribal couple -- Omana and Murugan -- at Mele Anavai in Pudur grama panchayat in Attappady died at Kozhikode Medical College hospital in the early hours of Wednesday.
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There were 52 tribal infant deaths reported from Attappady during the last 17 months due to malnutrition and anaemia.
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In another incident an eight year old tribal girl Bhavani, a class three student, of Mallika and Chinnan couple of Paloor tribal hamlet of Pudur Grama Panchayat died on way to Kozhikode Medical College on Wednesday.

The girl suddenly developed breathing trouble and swelling on her face on Wednesday morning. Her parents took her to Kottathara Tribal Specialty Hospital in Attappady. Unable to diagnose the child?s condition, the doctors referred her to Kozhikode Medical College hospital. But she died before reaching the hospital.
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http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/kerala/two-more-tribal-children-die-in-attappady/article4877400.ece?homepage=true

[Ronan Kelly]

Re: Kerala - Malnutrition claims more lives in Attappady

Healthcare sector in Attappady facing neglect
G. PRABHAKARAN


Despite an increase in the mortality rate of tribal infants in Attappady ? 53 deaths in the past 17 months ? the Integrated Tribal Development Project (ITDP) spent just Rs.35 lakh on the health sector out of its total expenditure of Rs.12.55 crore during 2012-13.

The United Nations Children?s Fund (UNICEF) in its just released report on the infant deaths blamed the lack of medical facilities and trained medical personnel for the death of 39 children in one year from April 2012 to May 2013.he report said the Government Tribal Specialty Hospital at Kottathara, Attappady, had ?no iron and folic acid supplied for the last two years. No protocol available for Injection Iron Sucrose IV to control and treat severe anaemia among pregnant mothers.?

The ITDP, created in 1975 for the development of the nearly 30,000 tribal population of Attappady, spent the Rs.35 lakh for the maintenance and running of an ambulance.
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http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/kerala/healthcare-sector-in-attappady-facing-neglect/article4894354.ece

[Ronan Kelly]

Re: Kerala - Malnutrition claims more lives in Attappady

Row over infant's death in Nilambur
TNN | Jul 28, 2013, 06.15 AM IST

MALAPPURAM: The Integrated Tribal Development Programme (ITDP) and the district medical officer are at loggerheads over the death of a newborn boy at the Vettilakkolli Tribal Colony in Nilambur here.

While ITDP officials claimed the infant had died of malnutrition, medical officer Dr Ummar Farooq cited the mother's tender age -16 - as the cause. Mini - the mother - had married Gopi four years ago, and had undergone abortion twice before giving birth to the boy at her house on Friday. The boy, born two months earlier than expected, died after a couple of hours.
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More than 32 infants have died this year in the Attapadi tribal belt of the neighbouring Palakkad district.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kochi/Row-over-infants-death-in-Nilambur/articleshow/21414781.cms