Eight women die, dozens critical after mass sterilisation in India
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RAIPUR: Eight women have died in India and dozens more are in hospital, many in a critical condition after a state-run mass sterilisation, a local official said Tuesday.
Many of the more than 80 women who underwent sterilisation at the free government-run camp in the central state of Chhattisgarh on Saturday fell ill shortly afterwards, the official told AFP.
“Reports of a drop in pulse, vomiting and other ailments started pouring in on Monday from the women who underwent surgery,” said Sonmani Borah, the commissioner for Bilaspur district where the camp was held.
“Since Monday eight women have died and 64 are in various hospitals. “Television footage showed women on stretchers being rushed into hospital with anxious relatives by their side.
Borah said authorities would investigate the incident.
Local governments in India often offer incentives such as cars and electrical goods to couples volunteering for sterilisation to try to control the country's billion-plus population.
Authorities in eastern India came under fire last year after a news channel unearthed footage showing scores of women dumped unconscious in a field following a mass sterilisation.
The women had all undergone surgical procedures at a hospital that local officials said was not equipped to accommodate such a large number of patients.
The Indian Express daily said the surgeries in Chhattisgarh were carried out by one doctor and his assistant in around five hours.
“There was no negligence. He is a senior doctor. We will probe (the incident),” the chief medical officer of Bilaspur R.K. Bhange told the newspaper.
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Comments (64) Closed
Nov 11, 2014 11:42am
Reservation for low caste, students with poor score in science, and rich parents whose children want to become doctor, manage to get admission in medical colleges, by bribing, somehow become doctors, and due to reservation again, the low caste get jobs in state government hospitals, and these things happen.
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Nov 11, 2014 11:58am
India treats their women pretty poorly.
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Nov 11, 2014 12:01pm
The world is anyway doomed if population is not controlled. Nature maintained delicate balance of food chain. Even lions and tigers have system whereby they kill the cubs of defeated males. Nature ensured balance population and man has destroyed this balance. Btw a person who really loves his kids will never bring them in this cruel, inhuman world.
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Nov 11, 2014 12:08pm
Even after reaching mars, condition of Indian will remain the same. First improve poor way of living
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Nov 11, 2014 12:40pm
Its a story of every other day here..no value of human life here..
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Nov 11, 2014 01:00pm
@Sunil, You comment the children of rich families get the admission in good medical colleges. They deserve this treatment because their parents are paying taxes. Not only that but they become assists of the country also. For poor and low caste there should be colleges reserve for them only.
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Nov 11, 2014 02:09pm
@Qamar Wow such a discriminatory remark! All the students on merit, no matter if they are children of low caste, rich parents, or poor parents, should get the change to go further. There should not be any quota system, any self-finance as it just jeopardizes the quality of professionals. Having said that, i believe that quota system that is reserved for low caste should be uplifted ONLY when NO-ONE discriminates between them and other people. Because otherwise, without quota even the able students wouldn't get the chance to get the education they want and they deserve.
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Nov 11, 2014 02:30pm
@Saad Z True,but you have no right to say that.You treat the just the same.
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Nov 11, 2014 02:30pm
@ghanshyam I am appalled by your comment.
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Nov 11, 2014 02:32pm
@Sunil Can you please explain what is a low caste?
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Nov 11, 2014 02:34pm
@Qamar It is people with such mentality who are the source of all problems in the world.
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Nov 11, 2014 02:54pm
@Sunil Completely disagree with you and your statements. People who are economically backward regardless of religion, caste etc must be given admission provided their grades are good. To the social backward groups they must be given special training and admission upto school level and must compete in college levels. In India the so called backward class get the benefit regardless of their economic status thus depriving deserving poor students to get into higher education. All religious minorities and many of the so called forward class want to classify themselves as backward to get the privileges and political parties go out of their way to appease them. This has led to fall in standard in education. In Tamilnadu literally every politician including leader of opposition are millionaires and in some cases billionaires but call themselves backward!
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Nov 11, 2014 02:59pm
@Qamar that is the most hideous statement I have ever read in my life. Very sad!
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Nov 11, 2014 03:03pm
@Qamar Today doctors dont do service to the people, they do business. Good doctors never practice in villages, rather open up private clinic and do business in cities and urban areas. The more money you spend, better health service you get. This is the bitter fact.
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Nov 11, 2014 03:10pm
Shining India !
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Nov 11, 2014 03:48pm
Exemplary health care being provided to the residents of an Asian superpower.
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Nov 11, 2014 03:56pm
@Qamar No - Its a very dangerous trend to give reservation to the unqualified. Instead the downtrodden should be given:
1. Forced education till 12th std
2. Free education at every level
2. Incentivising of parents for educating their children (at every level)
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Nov 11, 2014 03:58pm
@Sunil Woooooh! This is what the real india is. Discrimination in going to worship places, discrimination in rituals, discrimination in basic provisions of life and above all discrimination in Education.
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Nov 11, 2014 03:59pm
@Qamar That's the problem with the country; money counts, people don't. The type of healthcare that's offered shouldn't depend on the amount of money one spends, especially for something that is being "offered" to the poor.
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Nov 11, 2014 04:18pm
@Sunil u mean to say all upper cast doctors do their duty carefully. before making this nation reservation free, first the casteism should be washed out from your dirty minds.
Women treated their were poor and treating poor badly (like animals) is a agenda of most upper cast people
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Nov 11, 2014 04:20pm
@Sunil Your logic is not correct. It seems you are prejudiced.
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Nov 11, 2014 04:21pm
sunil@ you mean to say all upper cast doctor's do their job carefully.
Women treated in the camp were poor and treating poor badly (like animals) is a agenda of most upper class people.
Before making this nation reservation free first we need to wash out casteism from your dirty minds.
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Nov 11, 2014 04:24pm
Terrible! Were the instruments used sterile? I highly doubt it! Did they even give these poor women antibiotics after?
This is not even negligence! It's a crime! The doctor and staff should be thrown in jail!
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Nov 11, 2014 04:28pm
I've worked at govt hospitals in Karachi. And trust me when I say that I saw instruments occasionally only being washed with tap water. They weren't sterilised!
And guess what? Nothing was done even after I complained to the surgical head of dept
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Nov 11, 2014 04:58pm
@Saad Z and in Pakistan!?
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Nov 11, 2014 05:20pm
This is exactly what makes us laugh at india.
Such a great nation that goes to Mars but kills 8 women while attempting the simplest procedure. This is what fake posing brings you. Must focus on real issues rather than proving yourself something that you are not...
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Nov 11, 2014 05:48pm
Welcome to incredible India....
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Nov 11, 2014 05:57pm
@SN, Merit does not count in India.
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Nov 11, 2014 06:06pm
Millions of Indian baby girls are murdered in foetus this is the real face
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Nov 11, 2014 06:21pm
@Mariam I guess what happened is that some really ill woman with God knows what virus went in for the surgery and every patient afterwards got into trouble, I m sure they were not changing instruments after every procedure.
If there was something wrong with the doctor or his procedure then all the patient would have suffered.
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Nov 11, 2014 06:45pm
@asgher
Negligence is the cause of such deaths. There are 100,000 Doctors & you ought to have few fatalities but the problem is discipline & corruption!
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Nov 11, 2014 06:48pm
@Khan-Haqiqi : Chinese did the same thing. Did you have any objection to that?
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Nov 11, 2014 06:49pm
I'm glad that at least the Indian govt feels the need to control population & gives incentives but a major blunder such as this would only defeat the whole purpose! This incident may only push people away from getting themselves sterilized.
P.S.
That "cast" comment! I thought cast system was so outdated but who knew.
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Nov 11, 2014 06:52pm
It is the result of target based approch used by health department...health officials are mad after completing thier targets and perform 40-50 sterilization in one camp of 3-4 hours, hardly giving 10 minutes to each surgery...infection prevention is also highly compromised in these camps...this incident will affect the family planning program in India...govt should immediately abonden camp apporch and focus on facility based services...
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Nov 11, 2014 07:00pm
Only in India or Pakistan
No respect for human life - both are as bad as each other
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Nov 11, 2014 07:02pm
@Mariam u r right doctors and nurses at govt facilities hardly followes the infection prevention protocols...
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Nov 11, 2014 07:10pm
instead going to Mars,improve the quality of life for the poor....don't dump them in garbage ..
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Nov 11, 2014 07:11pm
@Saad Z :- Please correct your self , only poor people
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Nov 11, 2014 07:12pm
@Sunil so sad tragedy
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Nov 11, 2014 07:18pm
First of all this is very sad and should be deplored to the utmost. Unfortunately women are victim of abuse in ALL culture and societies in one form or the other. This also includes so called 'advanced' societies. Indian situation unfortunately has its roots in the local societal set up.Advances have been made but lot more needs to be done.
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Nov 11, 2014 07:32pm
Population. More Population. Even more. Keep on growing.
India MUST adopt child control policies based upon economic conditions of people. First you need to prove that you have means to nurture a family and then only you can make a family.
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Nov 11, 2014 07:35pm
Pathetic way of controlling overpopulation. Humans overpopulation can be controlled through awareness only.
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Nov 11, 2014 07:53pm
We got same problem in India and Pakistan. I hope, people realise that we are very similar countries and people. One day, we will all work together to help dire situation in our countries/region. In Europe, dogs have better living conditions and food than our people
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Nov 11, 2014 08:35pm
@asgher what this jealousy makes you? It is a simple case of negligence on part of medicsl staff, and nothing else. What are you celebrating? No body can take away credit for reaching Mars from India.
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Nov 11, 2014 08:40pm
@Saad Z Even Man died in India if they rely on this government hospital...it's our corrupt political leaders who are killing people...In same state Chhatisgarh 12 people became blind when they went in some government camp for treatment....there is no value for poor people life irrespective of their gender.
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Nov 11, 2014 08:59pm
The count has gone up to 10. Extremely unfortunate, some of these women were new mothers.thier childrens' culprits should no be spared.
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Nov 11, 2014 09:08pm
@Sunil;
You are learning propaganda; blame the victims. You are accusing low caste people of killing themselves.
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Nov 11, 2014 09:33pm
The distiny of poor in India. So sad
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Nov 11, 2014 11:25pm
While talented Indian doctors fly to US and Europe for better pay, government hospitals in India attract those who are filtered out in competition, thanks to the comparatively lesser pay, poor working conditions (in villages) and excessive work. Unfortunately , in a such a system, if negligence comes into picture, terrible accidents are bound to happen.
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Nov 11, 2014 11:59pm
@Sunil,So that's India's excuse for the deaths of these women? Does that make it ok?
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Nov 12, 2014 02:13am
Somebody had better go to jail for this. Mediocre medical students from mediocre colleges who might not have great bio to begin with might cause such mayhem - not the first time.
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Nov 12, 2014 02:35am
@Khan-Haqiqi
and millions of girls are shot at in broad day light ... like MALALA....
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Nov 12, 2014 03:43am
In due course everything will be hushed up.
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Nov 12, 2014 04:37am
@Saad Z
Perhaps you should ask Mukhtara Mai for her opinion of her Pakistani 'brethren?'
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Nov 12, 2014 05:45am
Modi should control his BJP members, they have absolutely no idea what they are doing.
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Nov 12, 2014 05:48am
@NORI
Your comments are so right and on the dot.
Guys, chill out. This is purely a low paid surgeons performing surgeries in an overloaded situation. It is all about economics. You go to a five star hotel, you get five star treatment. You go to a cheap hotel, the service matches what you pay for.
In developed countries, the medical standards are maintained high regardless of the paying capacities of the patient and hence the quality of work is high. Unfortunately, in Indian subcontinent, we lag in most social indicators.
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Nov 12, 2014 05:49am
Nothing to do with reservation . It has been reported in India that the health ministry of the BJP Govt in Chattisgarh had set unrealistic targets for sterilization and too many surgeries had been performed with complete disregard for human life .
Chattisgarh ranks amongst the lowest in human development indicators . People dying in scores in terrible conditions in Govt hospitals is a common occurrence in India .4 days ago 13 infants died in a hospital in West Bengal . It was not even reported in the Indian media. India or Pakistan , the poor remain invisible and helpless.
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Nov 12, 2014 06:05am
@Qamar His comment was about bribe how rich get admission in good medical
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Nov 12, 2014 06:48am
Really sad. Innocent people dying everyday. World is sleeping
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Nov 12, 2014 07:07am
World largest and biggest democracy still have a caste system, what a shame on the face of India and a slap on the face of Indians.
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Nov 12, 2014 07:08am
On the other hand, you get best of world class treatment in corporate hospitals. People from abroad, including western countries come to india for complicated surgeries. Many. Pakistanis also come to India for heart surgery which is still not possible in Pakistan. Don't comment negatively just on one stray incident. Such things can happen in most of the developed countries also. It more of negligence of few individuals rather than the system whcih cause such fatal accidents.
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Nov 12, 2014 07:42am
Corruption and get-rich-quick-no-matter-what is killing India. This is really sad incident and shows India will never be a developed country. I'm sure few days down, this doctor will be free of charges.
There are many rackets came in light on new medicine trails. They give youngsters couple of thousand rupees for taking some medicines for few months but a year later they get huge side effects. India needs to make strong measures to fix corruption.
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Nov 12, 2014 08:01am
India should more focus on the protection of women rights for a pretty good initiative and lesson for neighbours
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Nov 13, 2014 12:31pm
@Sunil please check the responcible person for this tragedy is Dr. R. K. Gupta. and for your kind information Gupta doen't belongs to lower cast.
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