Infant deaths rise in some government hospitals | Fusion - WeRIndia

Several infants died in JK Lon hospital in Rajasthan’s Kota in December. Reports say that around 100 infants died in the month.

The main reason for the death as per the hospital superintendent is low birth weight.

The death toll crossed 20 within the last week of December.

However, the hospital claims the number of deaths declined in 2019 since 2014.

The opposition criticizes the lack of infrastructure and adequate nursing staff to look after newborn babies.

A panel of MPs, when visited the hospital, found two to three children on a single bed. They also said that the hospital did not have enough nurses.

It noted pigs were found roaming inside the campus of the hospital.

However, the government committee ruled that newborns were given proper treatment and efforts have been made to improve the infrastructure of the hospital.

In another incident, more than 200 infant deaths have been reported in two hospitals of Gujarat.

There were 134 deaths in Rajkot and 85 deaths in Ahmedabad.

These 219 deaths occurred in December in civil hospitals of these two areas alone.

253 infants died in the last three months in Ahmedabad civil hospital, the largest government hospital in the state.

Shockingly, the number of infant deaths are more in December. It is the month that witnessed the highest number of newborn deaths followed by October, the second-highest in 2019.

The main reason for the higher infant mortality rate is the shortage of medical staff at government hospitals. Primary healthcare services are completely collapsed to the infants which is another reason for the rise in infant deaths in Gujarat.

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