Child-friendly unit at Vellore GH to assist Pocso survivors in recovering from trauma

Vellore Collector P. Kumaravel Pandian inaugurated a child-friendly unit to help survivors of Pocso cases recover from trauma. A mobile medical van was flagged off to address anemia among tribals in Jawadhu Hills. The unit and van are initiatives to aid vulnerable communities.

Collector P. Kumaravel Pandian inaugurated a child-friendly unit at the Government Medical College Hospital in Vellore established to help survivors in Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act cases recover from trauma.

Health officials said the specially designed unit, which is equipped with six beds, features cartoons and pictographs on walls, and provides play equipment and children books. The unit will be monitored round the clock by five doctors on a rotational basis. The unit has been set up in the existing special ward where the survivors are treated and given counselling by health experts.

The survivors will stay in the unit until they completely recover from the trauma. Earlier, such survivors were allowed to stay in the counselling ward. However, the new unit would help them to heal from the past, health officials said.

Hospital Dean S. Pappathi, Medical Superintendent K. Rathi Thilagam, Resident Medical Officer (RMO) S. Inbaraj and District Child Welfare Officer C. Sachin were present on the occasion.

Meanwhile, a mobile medical van was flagged off by Additional Collector (Rural Development) C.A. Rishab at Nammiyampattu village in Jawadhu Hills, Tiruvannamalai. The van will be operational in the hills, covering remote tribal hamlets.

Jawadhu Hills comprises 11 village panchayats that consist of 279 tribal hamlets across Tiruvannamalai, Tirupattur and Vellore districts. “The initiative is aimed to address various types of anemia among tribals, particularly expectant mothers in remote hamlets in the hills. Many expectant mothers work until the date of delivery, risking health,” R. Selvakumar, Deputy Director of Health Services (DDHS), Tiruvannamalai, told The Hindu.

The mobile medical van, a CSR initiative by TVS-HDFC, will primarily focus on border hamlets in Tiruvannamalai and Tirupattur districts in the hills. Currently, the hills have only one Primary Healthcare Centre (PHC), which is located at Jamunamarathur. As a stopgap measure, the Department of Health, in coordination with NGOs, runs at least five such mobile health vans in the hills.