SARBHANG

Dengue patient, who ‘died’ en route to Thimphu from Gelephu, is recovering in ICU

25 October, 2009 - His pulse was weak and thready. His face had turned blue and the blood pressure had dropped to an unrecordable low. He was, according to his relatives and wife “dead” for about an hour.

This was the condition of Karma Wangdi, 39, when the ambulance carrying him reached Sarpang from Gelephu. He was referred to Thimphu after being diagnosed with dengue fever. The ambulance immediately returned to Gelephu.

Doctors call this condition dengue shock syndrome, a severe form of dengue infection. Dengue (bone ache) fever is a disease caused by a virus transmitted to humans by the bite of dengue-infected mosquitoes.

“After days of dengue infection, there will be loss of fluid and blood pressure starts dropping. That triggered the shock,” said the head of the anaesthesiologist department at the Thimphu referral hospital, Dr Gosar Pemba. “If not handled immediately and aggressively, it can threaten life, because organs start failing.”

This was on October 19. The next day, he was brought to Thimphu and admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU).

“We kept him overnight on the ventilator. Next day he was able to breath on his own. We didn’t replace any blood. His breathing rate was quite normal and his lungs had cleared,” said Dr Gosar Pemba.

Karma, who is recuperating now, said that he must have acquired the infection when attending a meeting in Phuentsholing. “I knew it was dengue and I went to the hospital,” recalls the father of two. “But I wasn’t admitted and, only after visiting several times, was I hospitalised.”

According to ICU records, Karma had consulted the doctors in Gelephu on October 10 and 12. He was, however, admitted for suspected dengue on October 18, said Dr Norbu Wangchuk. “When we referred him, his condition was stable. But he was quite panicky.”

Karma, who had also fainted at the Gelephu hospital toilet, said he doesn’t remember much about the trauma he went through. “I knew I wasn’t feeling well and felt like the upper half of my body was paralysed. And, when I woke up, I was surrounded by friends, who were taking turns pumping oxygen manually into me.”

Gelephu hospital’s only ventilator meanwhile is not working according to Dr Norbu Wangchuk.

But the hour-long shock had panicked and convinced Karma’s wife and relatives that he had died. His wife, who was with him in the ambulance, had already called her relatives and some had even pitched tents to receive them. “I received a call from her saying that he had died,” said Karma’s brother in-law, who lives in Tsirang.

While Karma’s condition is improving, his brother-in law, Dorji Tshering, who is attending him at the ICU, said that he should have been referred earlier. “It was already late by the time he was referred to Thimphu,” said Dorji Tshering. “If they didn’t have the facility at Gelephu hospital, they shouldn’t have kept him there too long.”

He said that Karma’s wife was even forced to sign on the referral sheet, stating that the risk of the patient wouldn’t be borne by the hospital.

The administrative officer Karma Yehsey said that usually patients and their attendants refuse to travel all the way and decide to return halfway. “And later there are chances of them saying that we didn’t refer them at all. That’ why we ask them to sign,” said Karma Yehsey.

Karma’s wife however refused to sign the form. When Karma was admitted, he wasn’t breathing properly and his condition was quite serious, said an ICU nurse. “But now he’s improving,” said the nurse.

By Sonam Pelden in Kuensel

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October 15: The militants involved in the recent bomb blast in Gaden village under Umling Geog in Sarpang have now been identified.

A news release from the Royal Bhutan Army (RBA) says Nirpa Raj Rai and Bhim Raj Subedi, two militants from the Beldangi camp in Jhapa, Nepal, were involved in the blast.

They were assisted by Rajeev Boro, a National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) militant from Rangijhora village under Bogaigaon district in Assam.

Two RBA soldiers were injured in the bomb blast which occurred on October 12 in a RBA bunker. After planting the explosive device, the militants also took away two rifles.

The Royal Bhutan Police at Gelephu have requested the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) and the Assam police to apprehend the militants.

From BBS

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October 21: The Ultra sound machine at the Gelephu Regional Referral hospital has been kept unused since August leaving many patients inaccessible to the facility.

Many patients therefore have to either travel to the national referral hospital in Thimphu or visit hospitals in the nearby Dzongkhags. Some even visit hospitals in the neighboring state of Assam to get their diseases diagnosed.

Some patients BBS spoke to said that it is expensive to travel outside the Dzongkhag and said the health ministry should look into resuming the ultra sound service soon.

The Officiating Medical officer in at the hospital said that the main technician operating the ultra sound machine is out of station for two years on further studies. Karma Yeshey however said that they have submitted a proposal to the ministry asking for an immediate replacement.

Our reporter Pema Samdrup in Gelephu says about 300-400 patients visit the regional hospital everyday.

Patients from the region in Tsirang, Dagana, Zhemgang and Sarpang also referred to at the regional hospital in Gelephu.

From BBS

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NWWFCC is an aquaculture facility located in Gelephu (Sarpang Dzongkhag). It promotes warm water fish culture (mainly integrated with piggery, poultry, and horticulture) in rural areas through: training of farmers and extension agents, feasibility studies, supply of seed (fingerlings), and provides any necessary technical support - Source NWWFCC.

The centre is involved with production of: 1. Cirrhina cirrhosus (Mirgal), 2. Ctenopharyngodon idella (Grass carp) 3. Hypopthalmicthys molitrix (Silver carp), 4. Labeo rohita (Rohu), 5. Cyprinus carpio (Common carp), 6. Catla catla (Catla), 7. Aristichthys nobilis (Big head carp). It also has a pond for mahseer breeding trials and the species reared are: 1. Tor putitora (Golden mahseer), 2. Neolissocheilus hexagonolepis (Chocolate mahseer), and 3. Tor khudree (Deccan mahseer) - Source NWWFCC.

The annual seed (fingerling) production capacity of the centre for distribution of seed to farmers stands at 600,000 fingerlings as of 2008 and 650,000 in 2009- Source NWWFCC. There are total of 571 households involved with warm water fish culture with total water surface area (ponds) of 21.50 hectares in 2009 - Source NWWFCC. Based on the seed production capacity of NWWFCC and productivity of good areas, the total warm water fish production in the country stands at 414 Tons in 2008 (extrapolated from production figures of 2007) and 500 Tons in 2009 .

In addition to NWWFCC, another breeding centre will be established in 2009-2010, under Government of India funding at Samdrupjongkhar Dzongkhag. This is perceived to cater to all demands (services and inputs) arising from the Eastern Bhutan.

From Fishing Blog

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October 21: Of the 29 teenage pregnant teenage girls in Sarpang this year, 12 were in Gelephu. According to records maintained by the Gelephu regional hospital, of the 12 pregnant girls, some were school students.

Two girls in Gelephu Lower Secondary School aged 14 and 18 years had to leave school after they were found to be pregnant recently. Both were studying in class six.

Another girl, a class six student of Dechenpelri Primary School had also been found pregnant.

Our reporter Pema Samdrup says some of the girls could have become pregnant after getting married. While teenage marriage is not rampant, it does exist mainly in rural areas.

Four students from Norbuling Middle Secondary school have quit school. The reason why they left school is not known. School authorities said their reasons were varied and genuine.

Pelrithang Middle Secondary School also saw 14 students dropping out. Of that four were girls. Here too the reason is not known.

School Authorities said lack of parental guidance could be one of the reasons for teenage pregnancy.

From BBS

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22 October, 2009 - Police in Dagapela this week arrested four men for allegedly “abducting and molesting” two students, aged 15 and 16.

The four men, two taxi drivers, Dhan Bahadur Darjey, 27, and Kishor Darjey, 34, a businessman, Ashok Kumar, 27, and his assistant, Arthman Rai, 19, have confessed to the crime.

The incident occurred after a 19-year-old village girl, who is the sister of one of the victims, took the two girls to Dagapela zero point on the evening of October 7. The sister was already with the two taxi drivers, Kishor Darjey and Dhan Bahadur Darjey. The taxi drivers lured the girls to come with them to Gelephu, according to police.

The girls, in their statement to police, said that the taxi drivers promised to give them Nu 10,000 each and do their shopping in Gelephu. “The drivers gave us two bottles of beer and we didn’t know where they were taking us until we reached Tashiding,” the girls told police.

The girls informed the police that they stayed one night in Sunkosh, where the taxi drivers raped them. The next day, the drivers took them to Gelephu but refused to pay them anything. Two days later, the girls hitched a lift in a DCM truck to Dagapela. “The truck owner and the driver’s assistant had raped them again, when they spent the night at Sunkosh on October 10,” said a police. The businessman then took the girls to Drujeygang on October 11 instead of Dagapela and raped them there as well.

Kinzang, the father of one of the victims, lodged a missing case with the Dagapela police, when he was told that his daughter was missing from school. Police, on October 13, found the girls at Gantikhola and handed them over to their parents.

Kinzang told Kuensel that he was away in Sarpang and didn’t know about it earlier. “The moment I heard that my daughter was missing, I inquired and knew that she had gone to Gelephu with some friends,” he said, adding, “I then went to school to inform the teachers that she’ll be joining school a few days later.”

The girls are attending school and police are investigating the case.

By Tashi Dema in Kuensel

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… and yet, they comprise just 10 per cent of what sells, indicating the huge potential for farmers to produce and oust imported greens

M B Subba GELEPHU.

Eight o’clock in the morn­ing at vegetable market in Gelephu.

There is a lot of hustle and bustle in the lower corner of the market, just outside the street. Some vendors are still untying their bamboo baskets and sacks to display their produce. These are not the bargain hunters. Week­end shoppers are rushing to buy the fresh vegetables from Tsirang.

The famed vegetables from Tsirang are the first items in the shopping list for civil servant Karma. “I came early to get my share of fresh veg­etables from Tsirang before the others mop them up,” said he.

Prices of Tsirang’s produce are at par with the imported vegetable. But on the basis of quality, taste and fresh­ness it is far better than the imported ones, Karma in­sists, and is echoed by many other buyers. Dollo chilies at Nu100, beans at Nu 50 and radish at Nu15 from Tsirang are some of the produce that sell like hot cakes in Gelephu.

About 20 vendors from vil­lages like Dhajay, Beteni and Mendrelgang regularly bring their produce to Gelephu every weekend, vendor Nima

Dorji said. Many reach here by Friday evening to sell their produce on Saturday at the best prices. “Some reach on Saturday and even on Sunday.”

In the absence of enough sheds, vendors display their produce under the temporary plastic sheds on the ground.

However, despite the fame of Tsirang’s vegetables, there is also a complaint that ven­dors are often passing off In­dian vegetables as local stuff. One customer told BHUTAN TODAY that he had been sold some imported vegeta­bles dubbed as produce from Tsirang.

Hence, Gelephu is the best alternative market for Tsir­ang’s farmers after Thimphu. Though their produce may fetch higher prices in the na­tional capital, transportation cost to Gelephu is minimal, to vendors say.

With more farmers taking up vegetable cultivation com­mercially, cooperative farm­ing has also become one of their needs. “I collect vegeta­bles from my neighbours on Thursdays and bring them here and earn some profit,” a vendor said.

This shows there is a lot of scope for our people to make livelihood from vegetable cultivation, an observer said. Farmers too have noticed the changes it has brought in their standard of living.

It was very difficult to earn any cash in the past.

“Just a few years ago we had to work for a whole day in the field of our other farmers for Nu 50, but now vegetable cultivation has become our cash cow. And today poor farmers are less dependent on their rich neighbours,” a Tsirang farmer said.

In the context of Gelephu, while there is a huge demand for the locally produced stuff, Tsirang’s produce just ac­counts for about 10 per cent of what the market needs. Rest of the vegetables are imported from India.

And that is perhaps the best indicator of what farm­ers can achieve for them­selves if this 90 per cent gap is closed with local produce, some observers say.

From Bhutan Today

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