2 J’khand districts take help of ‘quacks’ to fight Covid

Ranchi: In a first for the state and perhaps in the country, two tribal-dominated districts in Jharkhand roped in "quacks" as their first line of defence in the fight against the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic which is wreaking havoc in the state.
Jamtara and Khunti district authorities said the move was taken up to resolve in part the lack of qualified health workers to tackle the surging cases of Covid infections and considering the faith of the villagers in these traditional healers, often referred to "doctors", rather than qualified medical personnel whenever they face medical and health issues.
In Jamtara, the district officials conducted a survey and called about 400 vaids, hakims and ojhas on Sunday for an orientation programme on how to identify Covid symptoms and their roles in helping the villagers.
Speaking to TOI, Jamtara deputy commissioner Faiz Aq Ahmed Mumtaz said, “The villagers depend mostly on the quacks for their health needs due to various reasons. Hence, we thought to first sensitise such non-medical persons, who serve as the first point of contact in villages, on Covid-related do's and don'ts. The idea is to utilize them constructively so that we can identify patients on time before they turned critical.”
On the new role of these traditional healers, Mumtaz said, "We are teaching them to identify Covid symptoms among the villagers and in case of critical conditions, they have to inform nodal persons in the area for immediate medical help. We are also asking them to create awareness among the villagers on appropriate Covid behaviour, both in public and in home isolation, to prevent the infection.
Putting stress on the vaccination drive, Mumtaz also said, "Community mobilisation for the drive in rural areas is important as the hesitancy among the villagers towards the vaccine is high. If they (vaids/hakims/ojhas) create awareness, the villagers will listen. So, they have an added responsibility of motivating the villagers to take the shots."
Mumtaz, however, clarified that the traditional healers are not allowed to distribute or prescribe any medicines or kits except for allowing them to carry pulse oximeters and provide simple vitamins in cases of need.
He added, "We have formed WhatsApp groups of the healers at the block levels and tagged them with trained health workers and practitioners to keep a regular tab and educate them with vital information. We will also distribute the oximeters to them soon."
A similar initiative is underway in Khunti district, too, located around 40km from Ranchi. In the district, about 200 quacks have been identified and being trained, officials said.
A Khunti district health official said, “We are training them on the guidelines of home isolation. We are also providing them simple medical and Covid preventive kits like pulse oximeters, food charts, for distribution among people in isolation by tagging them with block officials.”
He added that the first phase training was held two days ago.