LARKANA, Oct 7: The director general of the federal ministry of human rights, Mohammad Hassan Mangi, visited the Chandka Medical College Hospital on Saturday and met medical superintendent, doctors and paramedics to find out facts behind nine deaths of newborn babies within 24 hours on Sept 30 at the CMC’s children hospital.

Talking to journalists Mr Mangi said that he was a on a fact-finding mission and would submit a report to the ministry after completing probe into the tragic deaths.

Accompanied by CMCH’s MS Prof Afsar Bhutto, Mr Mangi met Prof Dr Saifullah Jamro, chairman of the department of paediatrics of the Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Medical University, Larkana, Prof Dr Khursheed Abbasi and a number of doctors, nurses and attendants.

He inquired about the facilities provided to patients and possible factors behind the deaths. “We have 80 to 90 per cent traditional births in tribal areas of Sindh and Balochistan conducted by unskilled women, which makes newborns prone to infections,” he said.

He said that doctors felt insecure at the workplace and added that he would recommend enhancing facilities keeping in view increased population load on the hospital.

He praised doctors for looking after the huge number of patients with a few facilities. The hospital was constructed in 1973 with 40 beds but it now accommodates 160 patients.

Since the secondary healthcare system is not so reliable all the load is shifted to this tertiary hospital, which is already faced with acute shortage of doctors and paramedical staff.

Prof Abbasi said that he had told the human rights official that doctors and paramedics felt insecure while performing duty at the hospital. In the absence of adequate security, angry attendants of patients not only hurled insults at doctors but also subjected them to torture in the even of deaths, he said.

“We demanded making the Institute of Child Healthcare functional as soon as possible to address the issue of overcrowding in wards,” he said.

MS Prof Bhutto said that he had provided data to the DG about number of admissions and deaths in CMC children hospital over the past three months.

He said that he had not concealed anything and said the hospital’s previous record showed 18 deaths in 24 hours. “We don’t have Intensive Care Unit in the children’s hospital, and presently 37 newborn babies have been admitted to eight bedded neonatology unit, which speaks volumes for the burden on the hospital,” he said.

He said that doctors and staff were afraid of performing duty without security. Some policemen were deployed at the children hospital and Shaikh Zayed Hospital for women on Friday but they did not come regularly, said Dr Shamsudin Khoso, deputy medical superintendent of the children hospital.