DADU, April 5: A large number of people belonging to various social welfare organizations and NGOs held a demonstration before the local press club on Friday to protest against criminal negligence in duty on the part of a child specialist and civil surgeon of the Civil Hospital, Dadu, resulting in the death of a two-year-old boy, Imran Ali.

The protesters carrying placards and banners raised slogans against the child specialist and civil surgeon. They were led by Insaf Ali Qambrani and Shah Mohammed.

Addressing the protesters, Mr Qambrani said he had got his nephew, Imran, admitted to the female ward of the Civil Hospital as per the advice of the doctor concerned on April 3.

He said that the hospital administration informed him that a surgeon would operate on the abdomen of the boy but since the surgeon was on leave his nephew had to be shifted to the paediatrics ward for medication the next day.

He said that when the boy fainted he informed Civil Surgeon Dr Javed Dawatch that child specialist Dr Ghulam Hussain Panwhar did not show up at the hospital to give medicines.

He said that the boy died on account of the apathy on the part of doctors and criminal negligence in duty.

The father of the boy, Shah M. Qambrani, said that after his son’s death he visited the civil surgeon’s office and complained against the attitude of the child specialist.

He alleged that doctors and other staff of the hospital were selling medicines to private medical stores in connivance with the civil surgeon instead of providing them to the patients.

He appealed to President Pervez Musharraf to direct the Sindh health minister to take action against the doctors.

On being contacted, Dr Dawatch said that no one had come to his office to complaint against Dr Panwhar. He said that he would appoint a committee to conduct inquiries against the doctors and other staff of the hospital.

The District Nazim, Dadu, Malik Asad Sikandar, said that he had received many complaints against doctors and other staff of the Civil Hospital regarding their alleged involvement in selling medicines to private medical stores.

He said that he had directed the EDO, Health, to conduct an inquiry to fix responsibility of the incident on the officials concerned, and added that whosoever was found guilty would be suspended.