The increase in the number of burn victims in Government-run medical college and hospital (Mekaj) at Jagdalpur has caused worry among the local communities.
Hospital authorities said in the last two years as many as 23 critical burn patients died in the hospital, while more than sixty five per cent cases have been referred to other hospitals of the State as it does not have necessary facilities. Most of the burn patients admitted in the hospital during the period belonged to rural area and more than half of them were young women, they said.
The authorities have been spending lakhs of rupees to provide better care and facilities to the burn patients at the Maharani Hospital but patients alleged they were inadequate. Hospital authorities claimed they are taking steps to build an exclusive burn unit with all modern facilities, but they were not able to provide an exact dead line.
Currently the hospital has been admitting burn patients in its surgical ward which many believe is against the normal medical practice. The hospital administration has been doing it since past about a year. Assistant manager of the hospital Dr Kl Azad said public works department has already built a modern burn unit and it would commence soon.