ASIA / PACIFIC January 2, 2023 THE ASIAN REPORTER n Page 5 Sidecar ambulances help moms give birth in India By Altaf Qadri and Aniruddha Ghosal The Associated Press ARAYANPUR, India — The motorbike roared as it strained to carry the ambulance sidecar up a steep river bank. The bike’s rear tire whirred in place, kicking up water and mud while the sidecar — a hospital bed on wheels, under a white canvas canopy — lolled dangerously. Two health workers, who had been following on foot, tried pushing it, but it didn’t budge. Eventually, the three gave up and settled for digging a new path. After 40 minutes of digging and a push to lift the vehicle from the river bed onto the muddy path, the team was on its way again. The bike ambulance resumed its nine-mile trek across the forest known as Abhujmarh, or “the Unknown Hills,” to reach 23-year-old Phagni Poyam, nine months pregnant in the isolated village of Kodoli. When the team arrived, Poyam was waiting next to her sleeping one-year-old boy, Dilesh. Like many babies in Kolodi, Dilesh wasn’t born in a hospital, both because of the distance, and distrust of authorities. But in recent years, Poyam said, she has seen women or their babies dying during childbirth and she doesn’t want to take any chances. “My baby will be safer,” she said in Gondi, a language spoken by an estimated 13 million members of the Indigenous Gond community. Motorbike ambulances are helping mothers give birth in Naryanpur district, in central India’s Chhattisgarh state. The heavily forested district is one of India’s most sparsely populated, with about 139,820 inhabitants spread over an area larger than Delaware. Many local villages, like Kodoli, are 10 miles or more from motorable roads. The state has one of the highest rates of pregnancy-related deaths for mothers in India, about 1.5 times the national average, with 137 pregnancy-related deaths for mothers per 100,000 births. While authorities and health workers agree that bike ambulances don’t offer a long-term solution, they are making a difference. The state’s health system has struggled to reach remote villages. Residents of Kodoli usually walk the 12 miles to Orchha, the nearest market town. It takes about two and a half hours. The lack of roads often forces villagers to resort to makeshift palanquins to transport the very sick. Although the government has been trying to build a road network, road works are often targeted by armed rebels, who’ve been operating in the region for four decades. The rebels say their fight is for the rights of Indigenous communities, who make up 80% of Chhattisgarh state’s population. Bike ambulances were first deployed in Narayanpur in 2014. Today, there are 13 bike ambulances operating in N PANDEMIC & TURMOIL. Injured people are helped on the street near where 156 young revellers were crushed to death in Seoul, South Korea, on October 30, 2022. Natural disasters and crowd-related trage- dies last year claimed hundreds of lives in Asia and overshadowed the COVID-19 pandemic. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man, File) Relaxed COVID rules, deadly crowd crushes mark year in Asia By The Associated Press Natural disasters and crowd-related tragedies claimed hundreds of lives in Asia and overshadowed the COVID- 19 pandemic, with most countries easing or completely lifting the tough restrictions of the previous two years. Even China, the last major country to try to control virus transmission through a “zero-COVID” strategy, relaxed the rigorous rules that triggered rare public protests. Political turmoil hit debt-laden Sri Lanka, where protesters broke into President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s residence and forced him into resigning after fleeing abroad. He later returned to the country headed by a new leader, Ranil Wickremesinghe, who negotiated a bailout package with international lenders contingent on sweeping economic reforms. Japan was shocked by the assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe during a campaign rally on July 8. The suspect cited Abe’s links to the ultra-conser- vative Unification Church, whose ties to the ruling party caused major headaches for the new prime minister, Fumio Kishida. In Seoul, 156 young revellers were crushed to death when more than 100,000 people flocked to the city’s popular nightlife district for Halloween celebrations, the first since the country’s strict COVID-19 restrictions were lifted. Earlier in October, police at a soccer match in Indonesia fired tear gas after some fans spilled onto the field, sending people rushing toward the exits, some of which were locked, and causing a crush that left 135 dead. Still that same month, the collapse of a newly repaired suspension bridge in India’s Gujarat state killed 134 people as hundreds were celebrating the Hindu festival Continued on page 7 COVID-19 vaccines offer hope. COVID-19 vaccines offer hope. You can can get get a f r ee vacci ne t hat You a free vaccine pr against ot ect s you agai nst 19. COVID- 19. COVID- If you a re 65 or older: Call 50 3- 988- 8939 t o get help scheduli ng an appoi nt ment at a vacci nat i on cli ni c. Int er pr et er s ar e avai lable. Call or check wi t h your local phar macy. Vi si t mult co.us/ covi dvacci ne f or t he lat est on how and wher e t o get a vacci ne. COVID quest i ons? Call 211 or 1- 866- 698- 6155 (TTY: di al 711) Visit multco.us/covid19 for the latest updates t hat prot ect s you REMOTE OUTREACH. Cat Basanti Warda, left, a health worker, holds one-year-old Dilesh as his mother, Phagni Poyam, 23, a nine- months-pregnant woman, disembarks from a motorbike ambulance upon arrival for a checkup at a hospital in Orchha in central India’s Chhattisgarh state, in this November 16, 2022 file photo. The ambulances, first de- ployed in 2014, reach inaccessible villages to bring pregnant women to an early referral center, a building close to the hospital where expectant mothers can stay under observation, or visit doctors if needed until they give birth. The state has one of the highest rates of pregnancy-related deaths for mothers in India, about 1.5 times the national average, with 137 pregnancy-related deaths for mothers per 100,000 births. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri, File) three districts of Chhattisgarh, run by local authorities and a nonprofit called Saathi with the support of UNICEF. The idea stemmed from a similar project in Ghana, said Bhupesh Tiwari of Saathi. The ambulances focus on bringing mothers to and from the hospital, but have also been called to transport victims of snake bites and other emergencies. Since 2014, the number of babies born in hospitals in Narayanpur district has doubled to a yearly average of about 162 births each year, from just 76 in 2014. The bike ambulances have helped nearly 3,000 mothers and their babies in the 99 scattered villages of Narayanpur district. Once Poyam and her son were safely aboard, the motorbike ambulance retraced its route back to Orchha, taking Poyam to an early referral center close to the hospital where expectant mothers can stay under observation and see doctors. Mother and son had to disembark a few times while the motorbike ambulance negotiated a tricky slope or a rocky river bed. Sometimes, the driver, Sukhram Vadde, 24, had to lift large stones that threatened to jam under the carriage. By the time they reached Orchha, it was dark. Lata Netam, the health worker in charge of the center, had called ahead when they left from Poyam’s village to ensure dinner was ready. One-year-old Dilesh gurgled happily, playing with others who work there, while Netam answered questions from Poyam: “What will the doctor ask me? Do I need documents? Can my husband come to visit me?” “We are from here. We know these villages. We want mothers to feel like they have not left home,” she said. Trust in hospitals and modern medicine is growing. In Continued on page 8