The children dying in India's remote tribal heartland

Once the outbreak was recognised, health workers began door-to-door screening in affected villages. Mobile medical units carrying oxygen, nebulisers, suction equipment, malaria tests and medicines visited more than 20 affected villages.One mobile doctor, Neeraj Sharma, says teams routinely saw more than 50 patients a day, about half of them children. They conducted 10 or more malaria tests daily, sometimes finding two positive cases a day.More than 6,200 patients - mostly children - were eventually treated at home, according to Gautam. More than 630 were referred to district hospitals. About 600 returned home, while around 30 remain admitted.Vaccination became an emergency response. Although official records suggested 90-95% coverage in some areas, health workers found children without records and families reluctant to vaccinate. Authorities therefore offered the measles-rubella (MR) vaccine to all children under 15, regardless of recorded status. Of about 40,000 children identified in Birsa, roughly 27,000 had been vaccinated, Gautam said. Of the area's 180 villages, some 67 are predominantly Baiga and among the most vulnerable.But vaccination is only one part of the protection ch...