more-inThe four-member fact-finding team of the Human Rights Forum (HRF), led by its general secretary V.S. Krishna, that visited Chaparai village in East Godavari district where 16 adivasis had died, claimed here on Sunday that the deaths were not due to food poisoning as claimed by the State government but because of malaria. “It food poisoning was the case, it would have happened in a short period of about 72 hours and not over a period of three to four weeks,” said Mr. Krishna. Significantly, 24 of the 30 adivasis of Chaparai admitted to the Rampachodavaram Area Hospital tested positive for malaria, said HRF secretary A. Ravi. Had there been a CHW in the village, or at least two fully functional ANMs and two MPHA (male), so many deaths could have been avoided, pointed out Mr. Krishna.

Source: The Hindu July 02, 2017 19:41 UTC