ATTAPPADI

Tuesday, March 06, 2007

TAO



Tribal population threatened by crippling disease


A deadly maiming disease called `Thrombo Angiitis Obliterans' (TAO), is threatening the life of tribals in Attapadi. The flow of spurious liquor and the widespread cultivation of ganja in the forests of Attappady have abetted the spread of TAO. A number of tribals have succumbed to the killer disease. Many have lost their legs. An unofficial survey found that more than 200 people were affected by the disease.
The TAO, commonly known as Buergers disease, is the spin-off of the large-scale substance abuse and excessive smoking. Much before the arrack ban was implemented in the whole of Kerala, the Attappady tribal belt was declared as a 'total liquor-prohibited zone'.
But, the liquor ban has no effect here. The Attappady Hills are floating in spurious liquor. Earlier, liquor was sold only in arrack and toddy shops, but now it is available at every nook and corner of Attappady. The State Government has miserably failed to stop the flow of spurious liquor and the large-scale cultivation of ganja in the Attappady Hills.
The Excise and Police Departments are said to be hand-in-glove with the liquor mafia. The tribal hamlets have become centres of the spurious liquor trade and in most of the 170 hamlets, many of the men and women have become addicted to narcotic substances.
A health survey conducted in the tribal hamlets in 1999 found that 873 tribals are alcohol addicts, of which 152 are women. Out of this, 559 belong to the age group of 10-40 years.
The blood vessels of a TAO-affected patient expand and leads to a rupture. This usually occurs in the feet, as the tribals walk barefoot. Once affected, the disease quickly spreads to other parts of the body, eventually resulting in the death of the patient. In most cases, amputation could have saved the lives, but tribals are not willing to lose their limbs even at the cost of their lives.
Majority of the tribals do not seek any sort of medical aid. Patients afflicted with TAO feel that they have no means to go for treatment to far-off places like the Medical Colleges of Thrissur or Kozhikode. They are not in a position to go for costly treatment when their very survival itself is uncertain.
Some of the doctors of Attappady who tried to help the TAO-affected feel that medical practitioners can only help by giving treatment and advice. When the tribals are reluctant to cooperate, there is little the doctors can do. The doctors of the area say that the tribals have been found to have traces of sickle-cell-anemia in their genes which makes them easily vulnerable to TAO.
Some years back, liquor was taboo for tribals. They lived on the forest products and cultivated food crops for their livelihood. Once they lost their land and their traditional habitat on account of the inflow of 'outsiders', they became victims of illicit liquor and the ganja mafia.
Tribal activists complain that the authorities who are busy preparing 'masterplans' and other big welfare schemes over the years, spending several millions for 'tribal development' turned a blind eye to the spread of this crippling disease which may wipe out the entire tribal population of Attappady, if left unchecked.

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