Central medical team visits fluoride-hit Dharmavaram village

Ongole: The central medical team from Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and other institutions visited Dharmavaram in Marripudi mandal and interacted with the people suffering from flurososis and chronic kidney diseases.

The team consists of experts from various prestigious institutions in India including Dr AK Suseela executive director of Fluorosis Research and Rural Development in New Delhi, Dr GS Toteja head of nutrition department ICMR in New Delhi, Dr P Ravi Raju vice-chancellor of Dr NTR University of Health Sciences, Dr T Gangadhar head of Nephrology NIMS in Hyderabad, Dr AS Kandhare and others.

The team members interacted with the Ongole MP YV Subbareddy, district collector Sujatha Sharma, DMHO J Yasmin and other medical and health department officials on Tuesday. The officials explained the team about the critically fluoride affected mandals in the district and the incidence of chronic kidney disease in the area.

The officials shared the details of disease burden and fluorosis levels in the district. The MP and collector explained that due to the CKD, hundreds of people are dying in the district for the past few years.

Later, the team of members visited Dharmavaram village and interacted with the public. The villagers explained that the water from the occasionally working RO water plant is the source of drinking water, while the people from the SC colony said that they are drinking water from the deep bore well.