60 children died due to lack of oxygen in the Baba Raghav Das Hospital in the town
Weeks after the Gorakhpur tragedy that claimed 30 young lives in a span of 48 hours, Dr Sanjiv Kumar, Director of Indian Institute of Health Management Research (IIHMR), said the deaths could have been prevented.
Of the 60 deaths reported between August 7 -11, 12 were due to Japanese Encephalitis. Oxygen supply was disrupted for two hours on Thursday night and as per the State Health Minister, there were no deaths reported in those two hours.
“As a doctor, one will say that the deaths may not have occurred during these two hours but would have followed soon after or would have left lifelong effects due to irreversible brain damage caused by lack of oxygen,” said Dr Kumar.
In his report, Dr Kumar also compares previous years’ figures. In the previous three years, the average number of deaths in August were 567 (2014), 668 (2015) and 587 (2016); or about 19-22 deaths per day.
The reported deaths of 60 from August 7-11, however, come to an average of 12 per day, which is less than the annual average for the previous three years.
Dr Kumar also spelled out three key factors that need to be addressed. “While the exact reasons will be revealed in the fact-finding committee’s report, there is a high need to address the corruption leading to interrupted oxygen,” he said.
In this particular case, the Pushpa Sales Private Ltd had stopped supplying Oxygen as their bills worth Rs 63 lakh had not been cleared since November 23, 2016. The company had written more than 12 reminder letters, many copied to District collector and state authorities.
The second fault line is overcrowding due to lack of facilities in primary health centres as well as district hospitals.
The third is the delay in the prevention of Japanese Encephalitis, despite the availability of technologies to prevent mosquito breeding and vaccine.
“The workload on healthcare providers needs to be looked into, he said, adding that lack of basic amenities like electricity and water even in tertiary care hospitals must be addressed.”
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
 "gorakhpur")
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}