National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has taken suo motu cognisance of deaths of over 100 kids at MGM hospital of Jamshedpur in last two months and has issued notice to the State Government.
Issuing the notice to the Chief Secretary of Jharkhand giving a time of six weeks to reply, the Commission has observed that painful deaths of children and infants, in a large number, were a matter of concern.
NHRC has also asked the Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry to take immediate action by way of issuance of suitable directions to all the States and Union Territories so that due to any negligence, such tragic deaths do not take place in any hospital in the country.
However, the State Government strongly refused to accept negligence on its part for the deaths of so many infants and kids.
“It is not at all failure of government machinery. Whenever a new neo-natal or pediatric wing in a hospital is set up, we come up with similar kind, if not numbers, of death reporting patterns. But I must tell that Government machinery is not at all responsible in it. Child marriages of girls, lack of awareness, poverty, deeply rooted faith in local kind of treatment which keeps ailing kids dragging towards death in every passing minute and dozens of other reasons for
children’s death due to malnutrition,” said Additional Chief Secretary (Health) Sudhir Tripathi on Monday after State level meeting of health department senior officials concluded at Health Directorate in Namkum.
He added that such deaths used to go unnoticed or unregistered in areas where there were no hospitals. “Moreover, people come from neighbouring Odisha Chhattisgarh, West Bengal and even from Bangladesh to get their kids treated in MGM and other hospitals in the State. So, all deaths are not of State itself. But now people have started bringing their malnourished kids to hospital and we are trying to save them. We will continue trying,” said Tripathi.
Health, Medical Education and Family Welfare Department Minister Ramchandra Chandravanshi said on the occasion that a three-member committee constituted to look into the matter of children’s death due to malnutrition in MGM was to submit its report in a couple of days. He added that sufficient number of doctors was going to join in various hospitals in the State in coming month and situation would only be better.
“We have asked civil surgeons of all the districts to take care of local patients and not to refer them in RIMS or MGM in normal cases. Having said that, I have asked them that any ignorance or negligence now onwards wouldn’t be entertained, as we have been investing big in healthcare and trying our best to get it on path,” said Chandravanshi.