Adding spate of infant deaths that took place in different parts of the country, 24 newborns have lost their lives at a hospital in Madhya Pradesh’s Vidisha which is being represented by Union Minister Sushma Swaraj in the Lok Sabha.
This is the second such case reported from the state in a week. At least 36 newborns died in a government hospital in Shahdol in August, according to officials on Monday.
Ninety-six newborns were admitted to the Special New Born Care Unit (SNCU) of District Hospital in August, of whom 24 have died, hospital authorities said. The infants were "afflicted with several problems".
District Hospital Civil Surgeon Sanjay Khare today said that the number of newborns admitted in the SNCU was more compared to that in July. However, he did not have the details of the exact toll.
Khare said mostly, the newborns who came from far-flung areas died as their condition deteriorated by the time they were hospitalised. He also said the mortality rate among those born in hospitals or institutionalised set-up was, however, lower.
In a similar case, the Uttar Pradesh government on Monday said 49 infants have died in a Farrukhabad hospital in the past 30 days. Also in August, over 60 children died at the state-run BRD Medical College hospital in Gorakhpur.
