Ashiq Hussain
SRINAGAR: The state government on Sunday ordered an inquiry into the death of two newborn babies at a government hospital in Baramulla, some 45 km from Srinagar.
While reports quoting the families of the deceased neonates alleged that their babies died due to hypothermia owing to lack of electricity in the hospital, doctors have trashed the allegations.
Officials said the two infants, who were lodged on Friday evening in the Special Newborn Care Unit (SNCU) of district hospital, Baramulla, died owing to their “extremely ill” condition. They said one of the babies was suffering from asphyxia, while the other had septicemia.
The affected families, however, accused the hospital authorities of “failing to provide the electricity to the special unit” after the local power supply to the hospital stopped.
“Despite our repeated pleas to start the generator the officials on duty remained unmoved. Both the infants died due to the acute hypothermia” a local English daily quoted Tariq Ahmed, father of one of the infants, saying. “We saw our babies dying in front of our eyes,” he said.
Health officials of Kashmir refused to accept the “power failure as the sole cause of death of the infants”.
“We have ordered an inquiry after parents alleged that the newborn babies died due to power failure. There were three neonates under observation in the special unit on Friday night. If what parents say is true then the third baby who was extremely hypothermic than those who died should not have survived,” said director health, Kashmir, Saleem-ur-Rehman.
“Primary investigation has revealed that while one baby died in the hospital, the other, with severe infection, was referred to children hospital in Srinagar,” Rehman said.
“The baby died at Pattan while on way to Srinagar. There is a time gap of two hours between the two deaths. We can’t say lack of power was the sole reason of death,” he said.
(HT)
