SHIMLA: Driving straight to high altitude Spiti valley or other spot, think twice. Before you do so, acclimatise yourself as it can be fatal as you run a high risk of facing the high altitude edema.
When we talk about health of locals in these high land valleys, it is no good for people of Spiti as well. They have an unusually higher incidence of gall bladder stones, acid peptic ulcer disease and Hepatitis compared to people of Pooh in the high- altitude tribal belt of Himachal Pradesh.
On the other hand, the tourists from the plains visiting the high land valleys suffer from life threatening mountain sickness, HAPO as they visit the area without acclimatisation.
Unfortunately, two days ago one young 24 years old lady tourist scummed to HAPO at Kaza before the medical team arrived there.
These observations were made by a high level team of doctors from the Indira Gandhi Medical college and hospital(IGMC) led by Dr PC Negi, professor of cardiology IGMC, which examined over 3000 patients at the multispecialty camp in Pooh in Kinnaur and at Kaza in Spiti, remotest cold desert valleys in inner Himalaya.
These observations must serve as an immediate reminder to health policy planners, tourism establishment to take steps to remedy these health problems so that precious life could be saved.
Out of 300 ultrasounds done at Community Healthy Centre, Kaza about 100 patients had Gall bladder stones while in Kinnaur it was about 20 out of 180 ultrasound studies done at the camp held today.
Even the tourists and locals also face life threatening problem of HAPO( high altitude pulmonary edema), whose incidence was found to be alarming.
“We had seen 5 patients and who were admitted with HAPO at CHC Kaza”, Dr Negi said. “This is a life threatening medical emergency seen in tourists who come from the plains”, he observed.
HAPO afflicts tourists or low landers when they visit high altitude without acclimatisation and indulge in physical exertion without realising its serious consequences. “We were told by local medical officers that they see daily about 10 to 15 patients of acute mountain sickness during these tourist seasons”, Dr Negi said.
This summer season has witnessed a lot of tourist inflow in Spiti valley. But a large lot remains uninformed about how they can suffer HAPO as they travel straight to high altitude without acclimatization.
The tourism department and district administration donot even bother to sound travellers on HAPO by putting hoardings or mention it in brochure to educate tourists, the doctors caution.
The team observe that overall Haemoglobin level was significantly lower in Spiti valley compared to Pooh despite people living at an altitude of 3000 to 4500 meters.
Medical team from IGMC Shimla and other hospitals of the state conducted a multi-specialty medical camp organised by dedicated team of NGO “Abhudya” in tribal district of Kinnaur at CHC Pooh and CHC Kaza bordering Tibet in greater Himalayas.
About 3000 patients were examined. These observations may be of relevance to policy makers and research institutions, Dr Negi said.
Abhudya organised a meeting with members of local hoteliers and homestay union to create awareness about symptoms, potential predisposition factors of acute mountain sickness and importance of issuing advisories to the tourists to avoid serious outcomes. About 50 to 60 members participated in the meeting.
This issue was discussed with Minister of tribal development Dr Ram Lal Markande and local administration to look into and develop mechanisms to issue advisories to each and every tourists visiting Spiti valley.
NGO “ Abhudya” gave opportunity to serve people who needed the services specialists most. “It was a great learning experience for each one of us and to understand the health issues of the people living in harsh and remote border villages of Himalayas”, Dr Negi said.
