Taking into cognisance a news report published in The Hindu titled ‘Kidney disease on the rise in Anantapur’ on April 9 (Sunday), the district administration dispatched a team medical officers from the Nagasamudram PHC along with ANMs and nurses to Molakalapenta village in Guntakal mandal of the district, where 102 villagers were screened for health problems.
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Two more persons were found to be suffering from kidney ailments in addition to the seven existing patients. Three persons had died in the past 18 months due to kidney problems, while five are currently undergoing dialysis.
At the end of the day-long exercise, the medical officers have identified 26 others with suspected kidney ailments and have referred them to the Guntakal Government Hospital for further tests.
Meanwhile, the Rural Water Supply Department conducted an analysis of drinking water samples collected from four sources, and found that electrical conductivity was found to be high while other parameters were within permissible limits.
In the past two days former MLC M. Geyanand, who is a doctor himself and runs Praja Vaidyashala in Anantapur, had gone to the village to assess the health condition of the existing patients, while Communist Party of India (Marxist) district secretary V. Rambhupal too visited the houses of all the patients and demanded a baseline health survey done for the entire population to arrive at the root cause of these kidney ailments in such large number of people in a single village.