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STUDY ON TUBERCULOSIS INFECTION IN LOHTA VILLAGE OF VARANASI

http://www.ahrchk.net/statements/mainfile.php/2008statements/1402/

Lohta village of Varanasi district in Uttar Pradesh state of India is infamous for malnutrition, deaths from starvation and alarmingly widespread tuberculosis infection. The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) in the recent past has been reporting cases of malnutrition and tuberculosis infection from Lohta. All these cases have been brought to the attention of the state as well as central government authorities in India. Unfortunately the Indian authorities have thus far neglected the residents of Lohta and their cry for help.

On 18, December 2007, a public hearing was organised in Varanasi. The hearing was organised to provide a platform for the ordinary citizens in and around Varanasi to address their concerns relating to right to food, health and decent living. These rights are fundamental rights guaranteed by the Indian Constitution, but neglected by the state as well as central governments in India. The hearing was co-organised by the AHRC along with its local partner the People's vigilance Committee on Human Rights (PVCHR), Action Aid International – India and the Bunkar Dastakar Adhikar Manch.

Poor living conditions and prolonged periods of malnutrition increases the vulnerability of the people living in Lohta to be infected with tuberculosis. The AHRC and the PVCHR immediately appealed to the state government authorities requesting the state government to take immediate actions; first to identify the persons suffering from tuberculosis and then to provide adequate treatment -- not only to the patients but also to their immediate relatives who live with the patients so that the tuberculosis infection would not spread out of control.

An open letter calling for immediate intervention signed by 208 persons, were sent to the Indian authorities. The authorities failed to respond. The AHRC then called for applications from medical doctors who were willing to assist the AHRC and the PVCHR in identifying the persons infected by tuberculosis in Lohta. From the list of highly qualified doctors who expressed their willingness to serve for the common cause and the human rights of the people in Lohta, the AHRC and the PVCHR has contracted a medical doctor to conduct a detailed study of tuberculosis infection in Lohta village.

The study will commence from 1 March 2008 and will last for six months. The residents of Lohta will be encouraged to approach the medical doctor and get examined and diagnose whether they are infected with tuberculosis. The AHRC and the PVCHR will also try to provide treatment to the patients. The information gathered from the study will be used by the AHRC and the PVCHR to further lobby the Indian authorities to continue the work which the AHRC and the PVCHR has initiated in Lohta.

Human rights organisations cannot replace governments. Neither is forming a parallel government the role of any human rights group. Through the experience gained from human rights work, the AHRC and the PVCHR is convinced that unless something is done immediately to control tuberculosis in Lohta many more people might die in that village. The infection might also spread uncontrollably.

The attempt by the AHRC and the PVCHR is not to expand its field of human rights activities to health sector or to gather some statistical information. This study about tuberculosis infection in Lohta is the result of the PVCHR's and the AHRC's understanding that without ensuring the basic guarantees to human life, any attempt to address human rights issues in India will be an empty rhetoric.