Unavailability of Ventilators - Death of two infants at NICH sparks protest

MN Report

KARACHI- Relatives of two infants who died at National Institute of Child Health (NICH) recently reportedly due to unavailability ventilators staged a protest demonstration.

The angry protesters, including parents of the ill-fated infants, were demanding an independent inquiry into the unfortunate incident.

Confirming that two newly-born babies died in the NICH because of unavailability of ventilators, sources in the hospital said that a resident of Lines Area, Muhammad Shafiq, brought his wife to Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Center (JPMC) with labour pains a day before the incident took place. At JPMC, she gave birth to three baby girls. Later, father of the baby girls, Muhammad Shafiq, shifted her wife along with the infants to NICH on the doctors’ advice.
The baby girls, according to sources, were suffering from respiratory problems, besides being underweight. Later, two of them expired as the concerned medical staff could not arrange ventilators for the baby girls.
NICH executive director Prof Jamal Raza could not be reached for his comments over the unfortunate incident.