A patient suffering from malignant malaria has lost vision in one of his eyes after he was refused timely treatment by a clinic run by the Kolkata Municipal Corporation, where health officials allegedly turned him away since he had already consulted a private medical practitioner.

The patient, Ashok Bhattacharya, is a resident of 25 Kanai Dhar Lane (ward 40), the same locality where a patient, Udit Das, died of malignant malaria three days ago.

Bhattacharya first tested positive for malignant malaria in a private clinic. On a local doctor’s suggestion, he went to the adjacent KMC clinic in his ward for getting medicine and treatment.

However, Bhattacharya was turned away by the health officials who said since he had got the test done at a private clinic, he could afford medicines from medical shops as well.

The patient returned home with no medicine and subsequently lost vision in one eye as the malaria affected the neuro-system of the eye.

“I was suffering from fever for a few days. I consulted the local doctor who asked me to get a blood test done and referred a laboratory in the area. I got the test done there and the report said I had malignant malaria,” Bhattacharya said.

“After I got back to the doctor with the report, he said I could get the medicines from the KMC clinic for free. Since, my financial condition is not good, I went to the KMC clinic but the health officials refused to give me the medicines. After waiting for a few days, I went to the School of Tropical Medicine and got the medicines. But, by then, the malignant malaria had affected my eye-sight. I have lost vision in one of my eyes,” Bhattacharya added.

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