13 tribal children have died in Attappady of Palakkad district this year

Kerala’s claims to world fame for its high human development indices appear to be tottering with children in the tribal heartland of Attappady in Palakkad district dying of malnutrition. In the last 15 months, as many as 29 children died of malnutrition, 13 of them this year. Two more deaths were reported from the area over the past two days. The number might be higher, for not all deaths from the Kurumba tribal hamlets in the remote forest areas of Anavai, Edavani, etc., are getting reported.

Bangalore: The impact of the landfill at Mavallipura which has made life hell for residents of the area is likely to be felt far and wide.

Typhoid has broken out in an opposition-held region of Syria due to people drinking contaminated water from the Euphrates River, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday.

The supply of contaminated water to residents of Srinivagilu Tank Bed Layout in Koramangala for the last few months has left many people reeling under the effects of water-borne diseases such as typhoid, cholera and gastroenteritis.

Dr P M Mathew, a professor from Christ University and a resident of the layout, who is recovering from an attack of typhoid in December, told Deccan Herald, that water supplied contains vast quantities of pollutants.

Indian Public Health Association (IPHA) expressed its apprehensions over dengue-related deaths in Madurai district.

Months after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called malnourishment among children a national shame, the Union Ministry of Women & Child Development (WCD) has now written to the Chief Secretaries of all States and Union Territories asking them to get “serious about fighting malnourishment especially among the children and women”.

WCD secretary Prem Narain said: “We have issued written instructions on Tuesday to all senior officials concerned and various Ministries to ensure that they contribute positively in the fight against this great challenge that the country faces today.

Itanagar: Over a hundred people were affected by an undiagnosed disease at Pasighat town and its adjoining areas in East Siang district of Arunachal Pradesh since early this month.

The disease is like viral fever but no medicine available in the district to fight the symptoms have helped those ailing from it. Tako Dabi, political advisor to chief minister, who is also a victim of the disease said in a statement on Tuesday that the symptoms were neither that of malaria nor of typhoid which are prevalent in Arunachal Pradesh. This has drawn the attention of the state government for early solution to the problem.

The BMC on Thursday said media reports claiming a sharp rise in the incidence of sensitive diseases may have caused alarm.

GUWAHATI: A survey conducted by a voluntary association called ‘Jeevan Initiative’ has revealed the high presence of microbes in drinking water at various public places, including schools and hospitals in the city.

The association collected samples from drinking water facilities installed at 10 prominent public places in the city and found that all of them failed in the bacteriological test, while four of them failed even in the chemical tests, after it was submitted at the State Public Health Laboratory for analysis.

This is the pitiful state of the residents of the locality on the HMT Watch Factory-Jalahalli Road. What may seem like sheer incivility of the people is a situation they have been pushed into. Rajesh, a resident, said: “Most of us earn a living by working as construction labourers and hardly earn money for two meals a day. With great difficulty, we have been able to build these concrete houses, but, due to the lack of drainage facilities, no toilets were built.”