PANAJI
The deaths of five migrant workers at the Cutbona fishing trawler jetty and the looming threat of the cholera outbreak there spreading beyond the jetty to resident population in surrounding localities has pushed the State's health department into an overdrive mode, even if it seemingly was a delayed reaction.
Health officers and field staff have been working round the clock both at Cutbona as well as on the opposite bank at Mobor to ensure that those affected are clinically monitored and to also keep a check on the spread of the disease.
Abundant kits with antibiotics, paracetamol tablets as well as ORS packets have been supplied to the boat owners for distribution to their workers.
So far, the health officials have recorded 175 cases of cholera and claim the situation has been easing but they are unwilling to say that the situation is under control yet.
Public health norms require that in the case of cholera, at least 14 consecutive days have to pass without any case being detected for the authorities to officially declare that the outbreak has ended.
Over dozen getting
in-patient treatment
Over a dozen of the affected labourers have either been treated or are undergoing treatment in hospitals -- six at the South Goa District Hospital and several whose renal function has been affected and some requiring dialysis being shifted to the Goa Medical College and Hospital.
Of the five labourers who died, health officials said two were declared dead before admission. Some of them may have been out at sea when they were already affected, one health officer in the thick of action told The Goan in a bid to explain the delay in providing access to medical treatment.
'We can step in
only if informed'
Another health official said they can step in only after being intimated of a medical situation and that they neither have the mandate nor powers in the statute to act suo-motu.
The Goa Public Health Act has a provision which gives them (health officers) powers and a mandate to screen and monitor labourers only at 'Construction Sites'.
"Builders and contractors can be forced to have their labour force registered with the department. We then ensure each worker has a health card and he/she is regularly monitored," the health officer said, indicating that this provision in the law does not hold good for fishing jetties and other workplaces where migrant labourers operate in large numbers.
Stemming
the spread
The biggest challenge for the State administration following the cholera outbreak at Cutbona is to ensure that the disease does not spread beyond the jetties into contiguous localities where local residents live.
Multiple departments and agencies are at work in a coordinated manner to ensure that the water-borne disease does not spread.
Open wells in geographically adjacent hamlets and villages are being chlorinated and pamphlets with do's and don'ts are being distributed to raise awareness about the disease among the local population.
The Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) is also intensifying its inspections of restaurants and roadside eateries to ensure hygiene standards are maintained, an official said.
