Ward volunteers, ward administrative secretaries, ANMs at the ward-level PHCs, medical officers, technicians and the paramedical staff at PHCs or ‘max centres’ are the first level of defence in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.
Right now, there are 25 operational max centres in the city and the district administration has proposed to open 43 new PHCs, with the aim of covering all 74 wards in the city under GVMC.
These PHCs are manned by young medical officers who are fresh pass-outs and the coordination, administrative and groundwork is done by a set of another young ward volunteers and ward secretaries, who are in their early or mid-20s.
From day one, ever since the first lockdown in March, these young people have been at the forefront in tackling the pandemic, not worrying about the risk to their health.
“We are the first line of defence, as it is to us that they come for testing and treatment. A number of people working in this sector such as doctors, ANMs, lab technicians and ward volunteers, have tested positive. They have undergone treatment for COVID-19 and have resumed duty after 14 days,” said Dr. Sushmita Priya, medical officer at a PHC near Dr. V.S. Krishna Government Degree and PG College.
“We are directly exposed to COVID-19 patients and asymptomatic cases when we go for survey, tracing primary contacts, monitoring patients who are under home isolation,” said ward secretary Vamsi Krishna Murthy, who graduated as a mechanical engineer.
But despite the yeoman service, the young workers feel people do not respect them or appreciate their work.
“People argue with us when we request them to maintain social distancing or wear a mask in the correct way. They abuse us for not testing them, even in cases when it is not required, or demand hospital admission when it is not needed. What we seek is a little bit of respect and appreciation, as we are not only risking our lives but also that of our family members,” said Dr. Sushmita.
“Our ANMs and ward volunteers face misbehaviour when they go on house calls or survey,” she added.
First on the scene
Ward volunteers are the first to address a COVID-19 call. All one has to do is go on the internet and search for ‘Know your volunteer’ in A.P. The name and number of the volunteer will pop up once the user enters the door number and Aadhaar number, Mr. Vamsi said.
In Visakhapatnam, there are over 10,000 ward volunteers and over 1,400 ward secretaries, and 25 medical officers in the 25 functional PHCs (likely to increase to 74) and over 2,000 ANMs who are working on the frontlines.