Government on toes after 267 child deaths at MGM in 8 months

JAMSHEDPUR: As many as 267 children died in the government-run Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Medical College and Hospital (MGMMCH) till August this year, hospital officials told reporters here on Thursday. At least 60 of the deaths had taken place in July alone.
A week after the four member team from the state health department was formed to probe into the spate of infant deaths, the hospital administration on Thursday said the casualties were due to the critical health condition of the newborns and insufficient infrastructure at the health care centre.
Additional chief secretary (health) Sudhir Tripathy, who visited the hospital earlier during the day to take stock of the situation, told reporters that the government is chalking out plans to curb the deaths. “From filling up vacant posts in the hospital to augmenting the infrastructure, the government is doing everything possible to take care of the situation,” he said, adding that the infant mortality rate in the state is below the national average.
Addressing mediapersons later during the day, the hospital principal A K Akhauri said a total of 3,630 admissions were made in the paediatric department till August 24 this year. Of these, 3,363 were successfully treated and discharged. “Only 267 children that constitute 7.35% of the total admissions, died during the course of diagnosis,” Akhauri said.
He added that 184 children were admitted in the neo-natal intensive care unit this year, out of which 120 children were treated successfully and discharged. The remaining 64 children had died.
In July, 60 of the 546 children who were admitted in the hospital died during the course of diagnosis. “Out of the 60 children who died, 40 of them belonged to the neo-intensive care unit, 12 belonged to the paediatric intensive care unit and eight of them were ward cases,” superintendent B Bhushan said. The officials said lack of awareness about the diet, medicine and medical care among the pregnant women were also one of the main reasons behind the deaths. “As far as the expansion in the infrastructure is concerned, 30 beds will be reserved for the paediatricts in the new building which is coming up in the campus,” officials said.