300 children have died of Japanese encephalitis in Odisha's Malkangiri in last 2 months

Stating that 300 children have died and not 32 or 80 as claimed by the government, Public health doctor blamed the government for failure to control JE

Dr Sylvia Karpagam, a well-known Karnataka-based public health doctor who works with marginalised communities, has claimed that more than 300 adivasi children have died in Malkangiri, Odisha, in the past two months due to the deadly Japanese Encephalitis (JE), as against just 32 deaths claimed by the state government.

These deaths, says Dr Karpagam, only suggest state government failure to responded to the emergency, adding, instead of fighting the disease, the government hired experts in order to “minimize” the responsibility of the government.”

Dr Karpagam, in an unpublished article distributed by the National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM), says, “Safe and effective vaccines are available to prevent JE”, and the World health Organization (WHO) has recommended that JE vaccination be “integrated into national immunization schedules in all areas where JE disease is recognized as a public health issue.”

Contending that the state government has not done anything of this kind, Dr Karpagam says, “Of those who survive JE infection, 20%–30% suffer permanent intellectual, behavioral or neurological problems such as paralysis, recurrent seizures or the inability to speak.”

Meanwhile, an NAPM statement on JE deaths says, “We are indeed shocked that the ‘Team of Experts’ sent by the Centre has tried to absolve the Government of all responsibility by attributing the deaths to consumption of some local seeds (Bana Chakundi) and not to JE and governmental delay, thereby blaming the adivasis themselves for the deaths!”

It must be recalled here that Madhi, a tribal boy from Malkangiri had written to the Prime Minister in the backdrop of the mounting deaths.

“Save our lives. Many of my friends have died of Japanese fever. You are roaming around the globe. Can’t you come over to our village and see how children are dying here,” Umesh Madhi said in his letter to PM Modi.