It was once a busy centre which provided medical care to hundreds of residents from in and around Baina-Vasco, but the Primary Health Centre (PHC) at Baina has been reduced to a pitiable condition since the last two years.
The Baina PHC has lost virtually the entire medical staff and has also been made to sacrifice almost half of its space, forcing the poorer residents to seek recourse to risky alternative measures to avail medical aid.
According to sources, the Baina PHC has been serving locals and economically backwards dwellers of the area since the Portuguese colonial rule.
“During pre-liberation times, the PHC was almost a full-fledged hospital as residents of Baina and the surrounding areas used to visit the PHC for various ailments. Doctors and nurses would attend to patients and provide free medicines,” recalled a resident from the slum area.
“While this PHC used to cater to residents and slum dwellers of Baina, residents of Vasco and neighbouring areas used to visit the then Urban Health Centre near the old bus stand. The Urban Health Centre was later shifted to Chicalim and is now the Chicalim Cottage Hospital (CCH).”
But when prostitution began to thrive in Baina, locals began to shun the Baina PHC and the health centre soon turned its attention to people affected with HIV and other related diseases. In a bid to tackle crimes linked to the red-light area, a portion of the PHC was then converted into a police outpost.
“With the demolition of the slums at Baina, the PHC began to decline even further and by 2011, the health centre was reduced to only one doctor, a nurse, a lab technician and a sweeper to attend to the sick and needy, especially those infected with TB and HIV,” said the resident.
In February 2012, the lone doctor serving at the PHC retired and the nurse was withdrawn from the centre. At present, a lab technician and a male ward attendant, who also doubles as a sweeper, are left to manage the centre.
“The present situation is such that we now have to visit the CCH, which is quite far from Baina, for any kind of ailment. In times of emergency, we are forced to visit a private doctor and buy medicines from the pharmacies, which is a costly affair,” lamented the resident.
In a bid to cut down of consultation costs by private doctors, residents from Baina have now begun bypassing doctors and are directly visiting pharmacies for medical aid.
“We simply inform the pharmacist about the nature of our sickness or injury and the pharmacist accordingly provides us with the required medicine,” the resident added.
This practice has also benefited those infected with HIV, TB and similar diseases, as they are reluctant to queue up at the CCH and risk being looked down upon by other people.
“With the Baina PHC located in one corner of the port town, it would give us some degree of anonymity and privacy from inquisitive people. We sincerely hope that the government can allot at least one doctor and a nurse at the Baina PHC to cater to the medical needs of people from our area.”
When contacted, Vasco Health Officer Dr Vikas Kuvelkar said he has been repeatedly requesting the health department to depute a doctor at the Baina PHC.
Acknowledging the need of a full-time doctor to address the problems faced by residents of the slum area and other poor surroundings, Dr Kuvelkar was, however, confident that a doctor would be sent to the Baina PHC within the next few days.
“At present, other doctors attached to the CCH are also entrusted with other responsibilities and cannot devote their time to the Baina PHC. Even if I want to send one doctor to the Baina PHC for some time, we do not have enough vehicles to transport them to and from Baina, nor is there a regular bus service between Chicalim and Baina,” said Dr Kuvelkar.
“With the deputation of a doctor to the Baina PHC within the next few days, residents of the slum area of Baina can visit the Baina PHC, rather than visiting the Chicalim Cottage Hospital and suffer the ignominy of being identified and targeted by other people,” he added.
