dna impact: Sewri TB hospital will get N-95 masks by end of September

The civic body is taking baby steps in streamlining the supply of protective masks in Asia's largest TB Hospital at Sewri, after protests intensified among its workers following lack of equipment. While the 1,000-bed Guru Teg Bahadur TB Hospital requires up to 12,000 N-95 masks every month for its 1,200-odd staff, not more than 3,000 are supplied. But this is set to change, said Dr Rajendra Nanavare, superintendent of the hospital.

The hospital has devised a plan to order 5,000 masks every fifteen days by calling for quotations and making local purchases. "We are getting 10,000 masks by September end and another 10,000 by October end," said Dr Nanavare.

dna had reported on the dearth of masks in its July 12 edition. In April, the hospital had only 1,000 masks in stock, and in May the number dipped to 600. The worst situation was in January, when the hospital store received no masks at all.

"While one mask costs up to Rs64, bulk purchases are subsidised wherein each mask costs between Rs45 and Rs50. The hospital can make bulk purchases of up to Rs3 lakh for any given equipment in one quotation. Therefore, we are purchasing masks in four consignments of 5,000 each," said a senior doctor from the hospital.

The hospital administration is appealing to BMC's central purchasing division for the past two years for providing bulk supply. "We are tired of calling for quotations every fifteen days. We need the BMC to equip us with at least a six months' supply — 72,000 masks at one go," said the doctor.

Following the death of a 31-year-old nurse, Rani Nagre, in the hospital on September 11, the workers' union held a protest rally in front of the hospital this week. Nagre was infected with multi-drug resistant (MDR) TB while on duty. Up to four staffers of the hospital have died since January this year of TB infection – two labourers, one a senior doctor and the latest being Nagre. The union has demanded that Nagre's family be given a compensation of Rs15 lakh.

Since 1999, close to 190 employees have been infected with TB, of which 83 have died over the past four years. In 2014, three employees had died due to TB in the hospital.

Patient commits suicide
A 48-year-old patient admitted in Sewri TB Hospital ended his life on Friday by hanging himself in the bathroom. At 5.35am, the hospital authorities found the body of the deceased, Noorchand Shyamlal Jaiswal, in the bathroom. He was suffering from tuberculosis for the past six months. Sources in the hospital said that Jaiswal, a resident of Malad (East), had walked into the hospital all by himself on September 10 for treatment. He was admitted in ward number seven. This is the third case of a patient committing suicide in the hospital this year. Earlier, a patient had jumped to death from the hollow lift shaft. In another case, a patient had slit wrists and bled to death.