Editorial
Concern over infant deaths
Anomalies in child healthcare need removing
In the last 15 days Meherpur Sadar Hospital registered 23 neo-natal deaths. The unofficial figure may be even higher. The heart-wrenching reality is that 11 of these infants died while receiving medical care in incubators.
This horrifying detail speaks a lot about the state of child care in the outlying areas of the country. What is debilitating for these mufassil town hospitals is the lack of technicians with the know-how to operate life saving equipment like incubators in neo natal intensive care units. Lack of doctors and nurses has already been a major reason for a dismal state of affairs in hospitals outside the capital. This is only compounded by dearth of technicians.
The picture in the metropolis can sometimes give a jolt. Only last week, a six-day-old baby girl was pulled down by a cat from a phototherapy machine at Dhaka Shishu Hospital and dragged halfway to the exit. This shocking tale only reflects on negligence even at the country's major hospital for children.
Child healthcare is crucial for the country's future. In that context, the Expanded Programme of Immunisation (EPI) has earned laurels for Bangladesh as an outstanding success story as part of universal childhood immunisation. It is, therefore, ironic against this backdrop that children should die for want of proper medical care or use of medical equipment. Sometimes we even hear of lifesaving equipment rusting away in small town hospitals because no one knows how to use them.
We have heard the news of doctors being appointed in a large number. Equally we believe, some complementary steps should be taken to provide trained nurses and support staff including technicians if we are to provide efficient services at the child healthcare centres.
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