Purna Mahatara, assistant health worker, who owns Suprabhat Medical, said that he sold medicines worth Rs 300,000 since the diarrhea broke out in mid-May. Earlier, he hardly sold medicines worth Rs 15,000 per month. “If we had abundant stock, we would have sold more medicines,” added Mahatara.
Though the government sent free medicine to the health camps in the district, the poor villagers have not been able to avail of government services. According to Mahatara, as many as 300 patients have received treatment at his clinic since the diarrheal outbreak some two months ago. On an average, each patient spends around Rs 2,000 for treatment.
“Though people here are poor, we cannot distribute them medicines for free. After all, we also pay money to medicines,” said Mahatara.
Bishnu Medical located at Managhat, Karkigaon-3, is too doing a brisk business. The pharmacy sold medicines worth Rs 100,000 during the period, said owner Sher Bahadur Khatri.
According to Khatri, 60 patients had been admitted to his clinic for treatment. The pharmacy has been teeming with patients from Karkigaon, Jungathapachowr and Lebal. The nearest health camp set up by the government from these villages is two to four hours walk.
Tilak Bohara, owner of Jeewan Medical at Thala Bazaar, however, rued that sales had gone down since the government set up a health camp at Thalaha some three weeks ago. “I sold medicines worth Rs 100,000 in the last one-and-a-half month. However, hardly any patient visits my clinic now,” he said.
Patients in other villages of the district, however, are not so fortunate. Bhakta Bahadur Budha of Jungathapachowr, who took his mother to Suprabhat Medical, said, “I had to choose between my hard earned savings and my mother´s life.” Budha spent Rs 2,000 for his mother´s treatment. The government has set up some two dozen health camps in Jajarkot. But the camps are too far away from many of the villages.
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