In Yogi Adityanath’s Gorakhpur, at least 30 children die in hospital in a span of 48 hours

Terming the death of children as unfortunate, UP Congress President Raj Babbar said, “It shows the insensitivity of the the state government.” “The state government is responsible for the deaths. How can there be shortage of oxygen? The CM himself was on visit to (adjoining) Mahrajganj yesterday. Gorakhpur is his home district and he should have visited the medical college in Gorakhpur to know about the ground reality there,” he said.

He sought resignation of the health minister on moral grounds and compensation of Rs 20 lakh each to the kin of children who died. Babbar said that the chief minister should seek a report from all districts about the health facilities there. Samajwadi Party spokesman Rajendra Chowhdury too termed the incident as unfortunate and demanded resignation of the health minister.

“The health minister should resign on moral grounds. CM should fix accountability and also take responsibility. Gorkahpur is his home district and such incident there shows insensitivity of the government,” he said.

In the wake of this incident, an inquiry committee has been set up to ascertain the exact causes of the deaths and it has been asked to submit its report by Saturday evening.

In an interview to the Indian express, Ravindra Kumar, Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Gorakhpur, said the Case Fatality Rate (CFR) is reducing with each passing year. “The CFR last year was more than 20 percent and this year we have reduced it to 16 percent. In 2015, the CFR was somewhere near 30 percent,” CMO said, adding that the threat of JE has nearly ended although it has, like lsat year, claimed three deaths this year.

“In the months of August to October, people are more prone to acquiring some form of AES. Therefore we are trying to make people aware of the importance of cleanliness, drink clean and boiled water, and should rush to hospital if there is fever,” said the CMO.

(with PTI inputs)