Different initiatives to improve the health condition of the farmers at a health camp in Alampur, Sirajganj organized jointly by Hridoy-e Mati o Manush and Japan Bangladesh Friendship Hospital, Dhaka as a part of their series of health camps all over the country. Photo: Md Rajib Hossain

Like other basic needs, healthcare for our farmers has been disgruntling over the years. Yet, it is the most unaddressed requirement which needs to be focused urgently.

Serious concerns had been identified by the experts about the lack of pathways for the appropriate healthcare of farmers and their communities.

Basic healthcare services are inaccessible to most of our 1.5 crore farmers. Most of them do not know the ways of protecting themselves from occupational hazards or ailments. A very few of them are aware of using simple tools to prevent themselves from occupational diseases. Most ironically, they are forced to work by poverty with serious ailments and come to hospital at the end stage of any disease when very little options are left to save them.

While working hard in harsh conditions, our farmers often accompany some diseases that remain hidden in their lifetime; even after their death.

Apparently it does not matter for many of us whether they die or live. But in a real sense it matters a lot as our health and food security directly and indirectly depends upon their health. A very few people care about it while their health is more important than many of ours.

Hridoy-e Mati o Manush, a popular agriculture-based documentary programme of Channel i and Japan Bangladesh Friendship Hospital (JBFH) have come forward with several initiatives to address this problem. They have taken a joint programme to raise awareness regarding primary healthcare, preventive measures to protect occupational hazards and health education among farmers. Along with the advocacy campaign, they organize health camps in different regions in the country to provide healthcare to the poor and marginalized farmers from the beginning of the year. They have already served farmers of six districts and they have a plan to complete their services by the year 2008.

They are providing extended health services like medical check-up, consultation and surgeries by specialized doctors to the farmers. Recently a special unit with four-bed entitled 'Jibon Kheya' was opened at JBFH in the city with a view to providing healthcare services including laboratory test, medicine and surgery at free of cost. This is the first initiative of its kind in the country ever.

50-year-old Kalam Sorder from Alampur of Sirajganj is a poor farmer. He came to a free health camp organized by JBFH and Hridoy-e Mati o Manush. He is handicapped due to cataract (a condition where lens of the eye becomes opaque) in his both eyes. Now he is blind. He took the disease as his fate and never thought of going even to a district hospital thinking of the costly treatment.

He expressed his grief, “Nobody cares of our health; we are deprived in case of health as we are in case of fertilizer, fair cost of our crops and so on. We are often harassed and overlooked by the local healthcare provider”.

Like Kalam, 24 farmers of Sirajganj, who are blind due to cataract, will undergo sight restoration surgery with the help of the programme. Kalam urged to run more programme like this.

Shykh Seraj, Director of this programme and also the Director of Channel i expressed that their project is aimed at addressing many inequities existent in healthcare facilities of our farmer communities.

“We have been working to raise awareness among farmers regarding the cost-effective health services and increase the access to affordable healthcare for the farmers. We are arranging basic healthcare workshop in villages to provide them health education. We need to adopt affordable healthcare that provides more than just catastrophic coverage, which is the vital issue on the minds of farm families. We also try to build support for legislative initiatives that might improve quality and cost of coverage for farmers” he said.

“The problems of physical and mental health of the farmers are particularly related with their occupation. Maximum farmers using insecticides in their fields do not wear any protective barrier like gloves, masks or shoes. These poisons can easily mix with air and enter the body via lung or it can directly pierce the unprotected eroded skin. If we could make them understand regarding these occupational diseases, we could improve their health status” he pointed out.

Currently there is no hospital that has special healthcare packages or no subsidiaries on health services for the farmers who are working hard to serve our entire population. Mr. Seraj urged integrated efforts and supports by all to make healthcare accessible to the farmers.

Farmers, the backbone of our economy are facing serious crisis in healthcare. We need to stand beside the ailing farmers to make our economy healthier. Our simple and collaborative effort could help overcome the crisis and make them healthy and wealthy.