No Consumption of Alcohol By Womens In Attappady

28 July 2013
Kochi

A government doctor, who has delivered 3,000 babies in the tribal hamlet of Attappady working with the miserably poor people for 15 years, says that he has not encountered a single expecting mother consuming alcohol.

Countering politicians’ claim of alcoholic mothers causing infant deaths, Prabhu Das, former chief medical officer of the Kottathara Government Tribal Specialty Hospital and presently deputy district medical officer of Palakkad, insists that unemployment and poverty have led to the crisis. He is also the nodal officer to coordinate the implementation of health programmes among Scheduled Tribes in Palakkad.

“No pregnant tribal woman who had consumed liquor was brought to the hospital in all the time I was there. I have delivered nearly 3,000 babies and there was not one case where the mother had been drinking,” said Dr. Prabhu Das, who has around 15 years of experience working in Attappady. Dr. Prabhu Das said that while some of the older women in the tribe may consume country liquor, younger women and pregnant mothers did not drink.

The central issue in Attappady, said Dr. Prabhu Das, is that the people could not find employment. “There are no initiatives to create jobs for the tribal people. They would only be happy to practice farming and produce their own food,” said Dr. Prabhu Das.

Source– http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/kerala/no-alcoholic-moms-in-attappady-says-doctor-who-delivered-3k-babies/article4964028.ece

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