151 Infant Deaths Registered in Government-Run Health Institutions Across Odisha

The poor state of district hospitals has worsened the death rate of infants in a period of 4 months in Odisha. Around 151 infants have died different hospitals between April and July, which has created a string of worries for people in the state."While 22 neo-natal death cases of babies less than 28-days old were reported, 34 infant deaths were registered during April-July period. During the said period, 95 cases of babies dying during child-birth were recorded. All these cases were registered in government-run health institutions," said a district health official.

"What has made matters worse is the vacancies of pediatricians posts in the government-run hospitals," said the senior official.

”Statistics of past four months showed an average of nearly 38 newborns dying every month. Altogether 5,615 institutional deliveries were conducted during the period,” added the official.

Poor health infrastructure of child and maternity care has been principally attributed to rise in cases of neo-natal and infants deaths. The district accounts for 54 primary health centers, 7 community health centers and 204 sub-centers while the district headquarters hospital at Kendrapara is the premier referral hospital in the state.

”As many as 11 posts of pediatric specialists are vacant across the district and many health centers are running without doctors. Pharmacists and paramedics run the heath service network in most places,” added the official.

Source-Medindia