Masjid Health Centers provide free treatment of 569 typhoid, dengue infected children
Around 51 percent of total typhoid cases, 22 percent of dengue cases, and 2 percent of malaria cases were reported in a cluster of 20 slums in Shaheenagar.
By Newsmeter Network Published on 6 Nov 2021 2:33 PM GMT
Hyderabad: Primary health care centers (PHC) run by the NGO Helping Hand Foundation in collaboration with SEED-USA & AMPI, have successfully treated nearly 421 typhoid, 133 dengue cases, and 15 cases of malaria from four urban slums and mosques in Shaheenagar, Hasanagar, Rajendarnagar and Achi Reddy Naga in the last 30 days.
Incidentally, both typhoid and dengue showed endemicity in the Shaheenagar area. Around 51 percent of total typhoid cases, 22 percent of dengue cases, and 2 percent of malaria cases were reported in a cluster of 20 slums in Shaheenagar.
Around 15 percent of typhoid cases and 11 percent of dengue cases were reported in slums of the Rajendarnagar and Hasanagar catchment areas. Also, 72 percent of the cases of typhoid were found in children between 5 and 15 years, and 85 percent of dengue cases were found in children between 10 and 18 years of age.
Poor sanitation, overflowing drains, unattended garbage, and frequent inundation due to heavy rains are the primary causes of the high incidence of both diseases.
All cases of typhoid were treated in outpatient mode, however, almost all the cases required IV Injections for the period of 5 to 7 days. Additional beds were laid in the available space in the masjid for the treatment of typhoid cases.
Both WIDAL tests for typhoid and serology tests for dengue were done free of cost at the lab run by HHF. Due to the in-house lab facility, the test was done in a shorter window and treatment could be initiated on a timely basis.
Around 60 percent of dengue positive cases required hospitalization after diagnosis due to a low platelet count. All dengue cases were treated in Osmania General Hospital and Nilofer hospital. Around 15 patients required admission in private hospitals and HHF spent over Rs 5 lakh for IP treatment of these cases who recovered fully.
"Each typhoid patient would have had to spend a minimum of Rs 3000 for medicines, labs, and consultation, and for the dengue patients, it would have been at least Rs 2000. By providing free labs and treatment we have saved over Rs 20 lakhs of out-of-pocket expenses (OOPE) of this underprivileged section of the society," said Mr. Mujtaba Hasan Askari of Helping Hand Foundation.
