The deployment of a fleet of 108 and 104 services in the Rampa and Chintoor tribal heartlands is a timely intervention by the State government to bring down the maternal mortality and pedal edema death toll in the East Godavari agency.
A majority of the 12 maternal deaths reported in East Godavari district since the mid-2019 are from the agency while 14 persons died of pedal edema in the Chintoor agency in the recent months.
Integrated Tribal Development Agency (ITDA-Chintoor) Project Officer A. Venkata Ramana tells The Hindu: "The arrival of the new 108 services has enabled us to dedicate one vehicle to each mandal. The 104 services will help prepare a village-level health profile to prevent the spread of pedal edema and control the deaths besides enabling detection of new cases of kidney ailments."
The 104 service will ensure a coordinated effort by its staff and that of the Primary Health Centre (PHC) in preparing the health and disease profiles at the habitation level, he explains.
Wide coverage
Twelve vehicles of 104 service and nine vehicles of 108 service have been deployed in the two ITDAs, Chintoor and Rampachodavaram, covering the seven tribes in the East Godavari agency – Konda Dora, Konda Reddy, Konda Kammara, Valmiki, Manyapu Dora, Konda Kapu and Koya.
Says Collector D. Muralidhar Reddy, "A neonatal ambulance has been dedicated for the Chintoor and Rampa ITDAs. With emergency equipment that could save babies in a critical stage, it’s a moving hospital and laboratory that has been made available in the agency."
All the three types of ambulances have already been deployed. The scheduling and deployment of the doctors of the 104 service to cover various villages is in the final stage. "Now, the maximum time required to attend any case in the agency 24x7 is 25 minutes," claims Mr. Muralidhar.
