Kerala: Doctor who heals tribals over phone

SULTHAN BATHERY: A health clinic sans any physician and nursing staff! Sounds strange? But here is one. For the last one-and-a-half years, Dr K Jithendranath has been acting as a 'doctor on call' for more than 500 tribals deep inside the Wayanad wildlife sanctuary. A trained aide is the only employee of Dr Jithendranath's tele-clinic at Kurichiad.Sitting in Sulthan Bathery, the doctor attends to the emergency health care needs of patients residing in remote villages through a telephone. Through his aide, the physician gathers symptoms of disease over phone. Every day the patients 'line up' before his clinic at the consulting time where the trained aide would convey the symptoms of the disease to the doctor.After analysing the symptoms, Dr Jithendrananth would prescribe medicines which would be given to the patients free of cost.Started in October 2009, the clinic imparts immediate medical care for four jungle villages of Koloor, Ammavayal, Ambathekkar and Kurichiad, catering to the needs of a 508strong population of 108 households of primitive tribes. With service of over three decades in the district, reaching out to the poorest of the social ladder was always a passion for Jithendranath."Hampered by many factors, including hostile climate like heavy rain, attack from wild animals and inaccessibility, normally patients from these villages would approach a physician only after two or three days, by which time the disease might have worsened. Now they can consult me the same day", says Jithendranath.Earlier, the villages were not connected as it was not permitted to lay cables through forest. When the village came under the signal limit of mobile service providers, Dr Jithendranath bought a wireless telephone. The telephone is powered with a battery which has been recharged with a solar panel and an inverter."Earlier, we had to walk eight km through the jungle to access the nearest bus stop and again make another 11km ride to Sulthan Bathery to avail of the hospital facilities," said Radhakrishnan, a villager. "Now our doctor is just a call away," he added.