After Kota, 111 Infant Deaths At Gujarat Hospital In December But CM Vijay Rupani Evades Question
As many as 111 infants died at a civil hospital in Gujarat's Rajkot district in December last year. This comes against the backdrop of 100 deaths reported last month at a state-run hospital at Kota in Rajasthan.
Even while the nation was struggling to digest the fact that the death toll at a state-run hospital in Kota had crossed the 100-mark in the month of December, fresh reports emerging from Gujarat suggest that as many as 111 infants died at a civil hospital in state's Rajkot district in December last year.
An official confirmed the figures to news agency PTI.
"As per official records, 111 infants died at Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay Hospital in Rajkot in December, 71 in November and 87 in October last year," the hospital's medical superintendent, Manish Mehta, told reporters.
He said the rise in infant deaths at the hospital in December was mainly due to an increase in the number of referral patients with serious ailments.
More infants with low birth weight were also among the reasons for the rise in the number of deaths, Mehta said.
"We hold monthly meetings to assess facilities available at the hospital and meet the requirements urgently," he added.
AP
Besides, 85 infants died at a civil hospital in Ahmedabad in December, its medical superintendent G H Rathod told reporters.
"As many as 85 infants died in the month of December, 74 in November and 94 in October. The death rate has come down to around 18 per cent as compared to 2018," Rathod said, without specifying the previous numbers.
The main reasons for such deaths were premature delivery, low birth weight, as well as infection and asphyxiation in infants referred to the hospital, he said.
Reacting to the figures, state Health Minister Nitin Patel said the infant mortality rate is 30 per 1,000.
"Every year 12 lakh infants are born. Of these, 30 out of every 1,000 infants die due to malnutrition, premature delivery, or because the mothers are not able to reach the hospital in time," the minister said.
Meanwhile, Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani on Sunday evaded a question on the death of as many as 196 infants during December in two government hospitals of the state. Rupani was speaking to media on sidelines of an event here but walked away from the reporters when his response to the children's death was sought by a scribe.
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¡ª Anurag Dhanda (@anuragdhanda) January 5, 2020
The Chief Minister was vividly speaking about the event wherein he took part but went mum as soon as a reporter began asking a question about children dying in state-run hospitals. He did not even wait for the question to complete and hurriedly left the venue.
