Around 105 children have died in the state-run Baba Raghav Das Medical College in Uttar Pradesh’s Gorakhpur, the parliamentary constituency of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, in the last five days.
Reports suggest the deaths were caused by the spread of encephalitis and a shortage of oxygen supply in the paediatrics ward.
Terming the tragedy an “unfortunate” incident, CM Adityanath said that a committee has been formed to probe into the matter and it will submit a detailed report.
9 More Deaths in BRD Medical College
Deaths of nine more children were confirmed by Dr PK Singh from the Baba Raghav Das Medical College in the last 24 hours between Thursday and Friday, Hindustan Times reported.
Among the nine deaths, five were from the neonatal ward, two from encephalitis and two from the general pediatric ward.
Up Govt Slashes 50% Budget for Medical Education
Earlier in July, the UP government announced that the budget alloted for the 14 state-run medical colleges, of which BRD Medical College is one, has been reduced from Rs 2,344 crore in 2016-17 to Rs 11,48 crore in 2017-18.
Out of this, the funds for BRDMC dropped from Rs Rs 15.9 crore in 2016-17 to Rs 7.8 crore in 2017-18.
Particularly, the budgetary allocation for machinery and equipment was reduced from Rs 3 crore to Rs 75 lakh, reported Times of India.
34 Children Died Due to Encephalitis in 3 Days: BRD Hospital
Another 34 children died in the BRD Hospital at Gorakhpur due to encephalitis between Monday and Tuesday, reported Hindustan Times.
According to hospital records, twenty four deaths happened on Monday, of which fifteen were in the neonatal ward, five in the encephalitis ward and four in other wards. On Tuesday, ten deaths were recorded of which seven were in the NICU ward and three in the encephalitis ward.
Probe Panel Confirms Lack of Oxygen
Gorakhpur DM R Rautela’s report on the Gorakhpur tragedy has confirmed that there was a lack of oxygen in the hospital and blamed “financial irregularities” for the delay in payment to the supplier.
It has blamed the firm Pushpa Sales, Principal RK Mishra and Anesthesia Department's Dr. Satish for the delay.
The report further says that the hospital officials did not make timely payments and that they did not pay heed to the reminders that defaulting on this could have repercussions.