DAILEKH/RUKUM: A woman died of diarrhoea in Jagannath VDC, Dailekh, Thursday night. The total toll from the disease in Jaganath and Katti VDC in the past three weeks has now reached seven.

“Though the woman died of the disease, there is no shortage of medicine in the area,” Prem BC, a rural health worker at Jaganath sub-health post, said, adding that the number of diarrhoea patients had been increasing everyday. A team of health workers had visited the VDCs a few weeks ago. However, they returned as the disease had not spread in larger area.

Dr Gunraj Awasti, chief, Dailekh District Public Health Office, said, of the patients visiting the district hospital, 70 per cent had been diagnosed with diarrhoea. Health workers including women volunteers have been deployed to prevent the disease from spreading in the neighbouring VDCs, he said.

A report from Rukum said that the disease showed no sign of abating in the remote villages of the western region. Effective measures have not been adopted to check the spread of the disease, locals said. “Of the 13 diarrhoea affected VDCs, only Gotamkot VDC remains free of the disease,” Dr Binod Giri, chief, District Public Health Office, said, adding that over 100 patients had contracted the disease in those VDCs.”

Ahankar Malla, a local of Aathbiskot VDC, said that medicines were in abundant supply. However, there were very few health workers to take care of the patients, adding, “It’s a pity that the government has taken so long to control the spread of the disease.”

Sangam Pun, a resident of Magya, said that the total toll due to the disease in the area had reached 26. “A single health camp is run for patients from all wards of the VDC,” he added. He opined that the disease could be effectively controlled if health camps could be set up in all the wards of the VDC. “We are forced to run a single camp in each VDC for lack of sufficient health workers,” DPHO chief Giri said.