RAJBIRAJ, Sept 7: Yogesh Mandal of Ramnagar-7 Saptari spent all of Sunday scouring the market place for injection of insulin, a medicine essential for diabetic patients. But when he didn't find it in Rajbiraj, Hanumannagar and Kanchanpur, Mandal had to visit bordering Indian town in the evening for it.His 55-year-old father suffers from diabetes and should be regularly administered insulin for keeping the diabetes in control. "According to doctor's prescription, he should be given two doses of insulin daily" he said, "But because of the on-going strike, stocks of insulin in all of the shops have already finished."
Prolonged strike in the Tarai region has adversely affected day to day lives. Even though ambulance service, medicine shops and public health organizations have been operating without much hassle, patients have been at mar because of lack of medicines in the market due to disruption of public transport.
Patients and their family members are forced to search for medicines from one pharmacy to another with the doctors' prescription in their hand. But every shop throughout the district is hit by the scarcity of medicines.
Medicines essential for general illness along with that required by patients of blood pressure, diabetes and heart disease have become scarce, informed Jayshree Dispensary's operator Arun Kabara.
"We have been facing difficulties in providing medicines, especially since the past one week" said Kabara. "Our business is different from other traders. We are in difficult situation if we aren't able to supply medicines demanded by our customers." The pharmacist have even make rush trips to Biratnagar, Janakpur and Lahan on motorbike to fetch the medicines.
The region is now facing shortage of emergency medicines like 'Pentaz-2', 'Ande' and 'Monoset' another dispensary operator Lalan Kumar Jha informed. "Such scarcity of medicines is a critical situation for public health," said Jha, "Immediate action should be taken by concerned stakeholders to prevent the situation from getting worse." Adding to the woes, Jha informed that the market was facing shortage of Saline Water, IV Set and Disposable Syringes.
"We had never anticipated the strike to last three weeks" Tula Medical Hall's operator Tula Majhi said, warning that continued strike could take toll on public health safety. Saptari, Siraha, Sunsari, Morang and other eastern districts procure medicines from Birgunj. And with Birgun closed, transportation of medicine has been stopped totally.
"Agitating parties should be sensitive towards public health and the availability of medicines" said Kabara, calling on the protestors for being more sensitive to issues related to human health.
Along with the shortage of medicines, many patients have been barred from getting medical treatment. Especially the patients receiving weekly and fortnightly treatment from private clinics have been denied of medical care. Doctors like Dr. Ranarayan Chaudhari (Child Specialist), Dr. Saroj Karn (Orthopedic Specialist), Dr. Uma Kanta Jha and Dr.Shambhu Nawal (General Physicians) have not been able to visit clinics in Rajbiraj because of the strike.
The only government hospital in the region Gajendranarayan Singh Sagarmatha Regional Hospital has been in deplorable condition for years and locals have been seeking treatment in private clinics. But due to unavailability of doctors in those clinics because of the banda, patients are facing great inconvenience.
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