Forty two children—a couple of them neo-natal cases—died in a government hospital in Assam’s Karimganj district. The state government has started a probe and UNICEF is sending a fact finding mission to find out the reasons for the tragedy. The average monthly death of children in the hospital was between 14 and 15 during 2011. It suddenly spurted in December last year and January this year bringing the total to 42. The most common complaints are diarrhea, pneumonia and septicemia. The child specialist in the hospital, Dr. N.R. Roy said that diarrhea and pneumonia were common in the district during winter. Most of the 42 cases of death were referral cases from the primary health centres of the district. Karimganj has a population of 12.5 lakhs and there is only one referral hospital. The district has a porous border with Bangladesh which spreads disease. It mostly figures at the bottom of Assam’s human development chart. State health minister Himanta Biswa Sharma admitted that the health infrastructure in Karimganj was shocking in terms of qualified doctors and specialists. It has no pediatrician. There is acute shortage of drinking water.
Stating the causes of the death of so many children in two months does not exonerate the government. What has it been doing so long about what it knows to be disgracefully poor infrastructure? In the budget last year, outlay on healthcare was hiked by 20%. Assam had its fair share. Where has the money gone? One may wonder if Karimganj is the only sore spot. The Tarun Gogoi government has won three times in succession. It may be that the consequent complacence has stifled official action. The recent tragedy will hopefully generate some positive action. The UNICEF team should produce a stinging report to cause concern in Dispur.