GAIBANDHA, NOV 15,2023 (BSS) Health awareness activity has been continuing among the people of grass root level in the district and its neighboring Bogura district over two months to help to achieve sustainable development goals.

Sinnomul Mohila Samity (SMS), a voluntary organization, has been implementing the activity under Achieving Sustainability Towards Healthcare Access (ASTHA) Project in cooperation with Swiss Contact Bangladesh.  

Project coordinator of SMS Dr. Rahmat Ali said generally the rural people are very simple and straightforward. If they even suffer from illness, they first go to quack doctors and others and take medicine on their advices. As a result, they do not recover from the disease rather they suffer from various physical complications, he also said.
 
Many of them have to spend their whole lives with a disability due to taking roots, branches and leaves of the trees as medicines prescribed by the quack, he added.

If such kind of treatment is continue by doctors with hammer then the health system of rural people will collapse resulting it would not be possible to achieve the sustainable development goals by 2030 declared by the government, he further added.
 
Taking the matter into cognizance, Swiss Contact Bangladesh adopted the project to make the rural people aware on health so that the people are not affected and cheated by the quacks further, he mentioned.  

SMS is helping to implement the project in Gaibandha and Bogura districts as partner NGO, he concluded.

As the routine work, heath camp and health awareness activities are being conducted at the growth centers and important places of the rural areas of the district very often.

In continuation, a health camp and health care and awareness activities was held on the premises of Horirampur Union Parishad Complex under Gobindaganj Upazila in the district this noon.

Medical officer of the Civil Surgeon Office of Gaibandha Dr. Sohel Mahmud formally inaugurated the camp and awareness activity as chief guest while executive director of SMS Murshidur Rahman Khan presided over the inaugural ceremony.

Dr Sohel Mahmud in his speech thanked the Swiss contact and the SMS for conducting such the activities among the people of grass root level in a bid to save them from health hazards.
In this context, he urged the people to go to community paramedics in lieu of the quack for taking treatment in first or primary step during the period of illness.
 
Terming the community paramedics as trained physicians, he said if the paramedics are not able to provide treatment, they would advise the patients to go to the health experts for treatment.
Lily Begum, a woman of Croregachha village of Horirampur union expressed her opinion saying that they have learnt many things on health affairs from the camp today and continued to say they would not go to the quack farther for treatment purpose. If they feel illness, they would go to community paramedics for treatment purpose. If he or she fails to provide treatment, we would go to the MBBS doctors.