Kota: Infant Death Count Rises To 107, Centre’s Team Arrives At JK Lon Hospital

The infant death count at a government-run hospital in Kota district of Rajasthan has risen to 107. Taking note of the situation, a high-level team of Centre, comprising of experts from Jodhpur, AIIMS and health economists, has reached JK Lon Maternal and Child Hospital and New Medical College Hospital in Kota to take stock of the situation. The team will access the infrastructural gaps and will ascertain how much funds will be required for strengthening it.

“The high-level team being despatched by @MoHFW_INDIA incl experts from AIIMS Jodhpur, Health Finance & Regional Director, Health Services Jaipur. It will reach #Kota tomorrow. In my letter too to @ashokgehlot51 ji, I’ve offered all possible assistance to prevent any further deaths (sic),” Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan had tweeted.

Meanwhile, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has taken cognizance of the incident and issued a notice to the state government. The notice has been issued to the Rajasthan Chief Secretary. The notice asked the state to submit a detailed report within four weeks and also mention the steps being taken to address the issue.

The NHRC has asked the state government to ensure that no such deaths occur in the future. The statement noted that ten out of a hundred children died within 48 hours between December 23 and 24, 2019.

The commission has issued notice to the chief secretary of the state, seeking a detailed report within four weeks, including on the steps being taken to address the issue and to ensure that in future children do not die due to lack of infrastructure and health facilities at the hospitals, it said.

The state authorities have reportedly stated that the number of deaths is "low in comparison with earlier years", the NHRC statement said.

"As per the statistics quoted by the state authorities, 963 children have died in the year 2019 at J K Lon government hospital while this figure was above 1000 in the preceding years," the rights panel said, quoting reports.

The commission has observed that the contents of the media reports, if true, raise serious issue of violation of human rights.