BHOPAL: Around 70,000 health workers including ASHA (Accredited Social Health Activist) and other associated health workers are conducting a corona survey but they have not been given masks or sanitisers, the association of ASHA workers has alleged. “We are doing a ‘Kill Corona’ survey, door to door in villages across the state but the government hasn’t given us masks and sanitisers,” said the president of the Asha Usha Sahyogi Sanghthan, Vibha Shrivastava.
She said that they had complained to all concerned officials but were given assurance only, and they haven’t got masks or sanitisers so far. Most of the Asha workers engaged in this exercise are using their dupattas to cover their face. The overall process of conducting the ‘Kill Corona’ survey is also being questioned by the health workers on ground. “We are completely dependent on the answers given to us by the respondent. People are hiding the symptoms for fear of being admitted in ill-equipped hospitals,” added Shrivastava.
In a recent incident in village Mundla, gram panchayat Sehore, villagers came together and refused vaccination. They didn’t even provide any information to the health workers. As part of the primary team, the Asha workers have a set of questions like if anyone in the family suffering from fever, cold or cough. They have to fill their form and move ahead to complete the target of the day- of surveying a set number of people.
“They should be equipped with thermal gun and oximeter. They can record the temperature and check the oxygen level that is the basic criteria to check corona pandemic,’ says Amulya Nidhi, convener of Jan Swasthya Sangathan. Moreover, sending your health workers on the field without any safety gear put their lives at risk, he added.
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