Epidemics
91 infants die in Indian hospital, probe ordered
By IANS
Mar 28, 2006 - 7:47:00 PM

Health experts have begun a probe into the mysterious deaths of a large number of children at a government hospital in Tripura, India, officials said.

A Tripura health department official said 91 children have died in the past three months at the Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital in state capital Agartala. Of them, 48 died between March 1 and March 25.

"We have ordered a three-member expert team of doctors to find out the abrupt rise in the death of children. This is a matter of serious concern," Tripura's Health Director Satya Ranjan Debbarma told IANS over the phone from Agartala.

Some 750 to 800 children up to the age of 12 are admitted at the Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital each month. The average mortality rate at the hospital is estimated at about 15 a month.

"Most of the children who died were infants in the age group of zero to 12 months. Fifteen children who died this month were under one month," Debbarma said.

"The experts have already begun the probe and looking at all aspects. We need to find out the reason, analyse the report and then take remedial measures," the health director said.

Healthcare in Tripura, a backward state bordering Bangladesh, is not up to modern standards. "The facilities at the Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital are the best we have in Tripura although there is room for improvement," the health official admitted.

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