Daily Times

As many as 364 children died in Paeds Medicine Department (Children’s Hospital), Chandka Medical College Hospital (CMCH), Larkana during first three months January-March 2020.

Daily Times learnt here Tuesday. Of them 130 expired in January, 131 in February and 103 in March. Out of 4,020 admissions as many as 509 children Left Against Medical Advice (LAMA), 616 were referred to other hospitals and 2375 were discharged.

On the other hand, 1,696 children expired during 2019 in the same hospital officially which is also officially called as Institute of Child Health but popularly known as CMCH’s Children Hospital against admissions of 18,143 children and the death ratio remained approximately 10%.

According to statistics obtained by this Scribe, 177 kids died in January, 192 in February, 118 in March, 132 in April, 118 in May 152 in June, 85 in July, 170 in August, 109 in September, 127 in October, 152 in November and 164 in December 2019.

Total admission of child patients during the same year was 18,143 out of which 11,788 were discharged after treatment, the statistics claimed. 624 children were referred to other hospitals due to unsatisfactory treatment facilities out of which 183 were in November and 294 in December when the hospital had no medicines and all drugs were purchased by the poor patients’ parents including cannula, sources claimed. 2292 patients were LAMA.

LAMA was previously considered disgrace to the Medical Superintendents (MS) of the relevant government-run hospitals but it has become very common these days because of better facilities at private medical centres. Politically influential people occupy major posts in public sector Hospital which are allocated billions of rupees annually out of hard earned taxpayers money but it has completely ruined the concept of merit and establishing good governance in Sindh. Even superior judiciary orders are being daringly and openly violated by the Health Department on one pretext or the other despite availability of senior general cadre doctors of BPS-20.

People of Larkana have demanded provision of state of the art health care facilities at the CMCH so that poverty-ridden masses of nearby districts also get proper health care facilities and to fulfil the vision of Shaheed Benazir Bhutto of giving top priority to health & education sectors.