Children deaths at Ram Manohar Lohia hospital probed

Indian police are investigating whether 30 infants died for lack of oxygen in a northern state-run hospital, the second case within weeks in which medical supply shortages have been blamed for the deaths of dozens of children.

An underfunded, poorly managed public health system is in the spotlight after more than 60 children died in August in a public hospital in Uttar Pradesh state, amid accusations that oxygen supplies ran out because of unpaid bills.

Police launched an investigation on Sunday in the latest case after a government report blamed the chief medical officer and doctors at another institution in the northern state, Ram Manohar Lohia hospital, for the deaths of 30 children.

The infants died of “perinatal asphyxia” at the newborn care unit of the hospital in the state’s Farrukhabad district between July 21 and August 20, police said.

“The probe officer was told by mothers that the hospital did not insert oxygen pipes [into infants’ windpipes] after birth, and proper medication was also not given,” police said in the complaint, quoting the government report.

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The investigation suggested that 30 of a total of 49 children died of perinatal asphyxia, police added in the complaint, seen by Reuters news agency.

This condition is caused by a reduced level of oxygen in infants just before, during or after delivery, depriving them of the ability to breathe freely.

A district magistrate on Wednesday ordered the inquiry into the deaths of the infants, after media reports linked some deaths to oxygen shortages. He also ordered action against all the doctors involved in the deaths.

Doctor denies lack of oxygen

Dr Akhilesh Agarwal, the district’s chief medical superintendent, denied there had been any lack of oxygen.

The hospital saved 121 of the 145 infants admitted in critical condition, following their birth elsewhere, he added.

“The rest died since their conditions were critical,” he told Reuters.

Nineteen more babies were born dead in the government hospital, and the six remaining, from the tally of 49 in the government report, died of unspecified causes, he added, without elaborating.

India spends about one percent of its GDP on public health, among the lowest in the world.

Successive governments have faced criticism for not reforming the overburdened public health system which is still plagued with a shortage of doctors and dilapidated infrastructure.

In recent years, Narendra Modi‘s government has increased health spending and pledged to make medical care more affordable.

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