Dr Kan warjeet Singh . IMR is down by 50 per cent . There are 21 ventilators — 16 more than in 2012 . It also has 11 non-invasive ventilators now , while there were none six years ago . Over the same period , the number of syringe infusion pumps has gone up to173 from 40 , and baby warmers , from 25 to 110 .
All this happened because a group of lawyers , activists and journalists approached the high court with a public interest litigation ( PIL ). The high numbers of infant deaths at G . B . Pant Hospital were probed for five years , and directions issued regularly to upgrade the hospital . “ In 2012 , 14 babies would die every day . The number is down to three ,” says Dr Singh .
The 254-bed hospital receives three lakh children annually . Many are from remote Kishtwar , Doda , Banihal and Poonch . Doctors say congenital malformations , or physical defects at birth , are the leading cause of death , besides birth asphyxia and late referrals .
But basic questions remain . Have the hospital and the government really brought down the IMR ? The health and medical education departments are not revealing yearly infant death numbers , except those in the National Family Health Survey ( NFHS ), a public document .
Dr Saleem Rehman , director general of health services , says J & K ’ s IMR went down by eight points in 2016-17 , the highest fall anywhere in a single year . “ The NFHS shows that mother and child health indicators in Kashmir have improved and are relatively better than the national average ,” says Dr Rehman .
“ Infant deaths still haunt the G . B . Pant Hospital and other state health institutions ,” says Faisal Qadri , who pleaded the 2012 PIL . In the period from January 2016 to September 2017 , another 464 infants died at this hospital , say sources . Submissions by the hospital in the high court show 9,118 infant admissions and 428 deaths last year . In 2016 , there were 12,680 infant admissions and 492 deaths , while 574 of the 12,876 infants admitted in 2015 died .
“ No doubt facilities have been upgraded ,” says Qadri . “ The PIL had been launched to stop deaths at the hospital . That has not happened . Five hundred babies still die annually and there ’ s no plausible answer why .” O
mittently . “ They start in July and stop in September , when the illness peaks . Prevention should be all year long , not when the disease hits us hard ,” Dr Singh says . This year , Gorakhpur held a 15-day drive against encephalitis in April , under the Dastak scheme . Another 15-day round is scheduled for July . This , he feels , is inadequate . CMO Tripathi says 14 departments are “ coordinating to tackle the total disease and malnourishment burden ”. Water , agriculture , fisheries and sanitation are part of the effort . “ Chlorine tablets , washing of hands , full-sleeves clothing ”… the works .
In Harpur Budhat , an extension of Rasulwapur , however , there ’ s no sign of all that . Two nearby health centres , at Tama and Harnahi , were locked when Outlook visited . The former is being used as a toilet . Residents complain
‘ My whole family suffered . My brother was shot at .’
Credited with arranging oxygen at Gorakhpur ’ s BRD Medical College when there was a disruption in supplies at Ward 100 , Dr Kafeel Khan , associate professor of paediatrics , had to spend eight months in jail before he was granted bail . He speaks to Afsal Rahman about the Gorakhpur tragedy and its aftermath in his life .
Can you recollect the night of August 10 ? I got a message that the liquid oxygen supply was about to finish . The next 48 hours were horrible . Besides consoling the agitated parents , I , along with junior doctors , nurses , pharmacists and ward boys , tried to arrange for cylinders . We took empty cylinders in a truck and got them refilled . The liquid oxygen tank came only on the 12th night . The government says these deaths were not due to lack of oxygen , the hospital said they had back- up supplies .... The government initially accepted the tragedy was due to lack of oxygen , but later went into denial . The district magistrate admitted this in his first interview on August 11 , but by the night , he had started denying it . And yes , there were 52 cylinders and they were exhausted by 11.30 pm on August 10 . Pressure had been low since 7.30 pm . The oxygen supplier once said he didn ’ t cut supplies , but only threatened to do so .... He supplied oxygen on August 4 . Central pipeline operators are responsible for informing concerned authorities once the oxygen pressure goes below 4,000 units . But they informed only when it went as low as 900 units . How did you get involved in this issue ? The media highlighted how I collected the oxygen cylinders , while the government went into denial mode . Hate-mongers started a smear campaign against me on social media . It ’ s the media that made me a hero and then made me a villain . The papers said on August 10 that liquid oxygen would finish that evening . I was on leave that day . When I reached the spot , the media was already there . I didn ’ t inform them . How did being arrested and jailed affect you ? It was horrible . My whole family suffered . Cops would come to my home at 11 pm and stay until 3 am . Around 50 policemen would come at a time . Gorakhpur jail , where I was held , can accommodate 800 prisoners , but there are 2,000 . Despite being a gazetted officer , I was not given a Class B jail . I lost weight , but the mental trauma was worse . My daughter was 11 months old when I was arrested and , by the time I came out , I had missed milestones like when she started walking , speaking and running . My family had started fearing I would get killed . I thought so too . My brother Jameel was shot at in June . He took three bullets and is fighting for his life . O
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