BHUBANESWAR: The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Thursday issued a summons to the Odisha government, Cuttack municipal corporation and Acharya Harihar Post Graduate Institute of Cancer (AHPGIC) administration in connection with increasing stray dog biting incidents inside the cancer hospital.
Taking suo motu cognizance of a report published in The New Indian Express on May 22 that stray dogs are moving freely inside AHPGIC at Cuttack and biting patients, the apex human rights panel has sought a detailed report on the matter within six weeks.
“The reports should include the steps taken or proposed to be taken by the authorities to deal with the stray dog menace inside the AHPGIC hospital and to ensure the safety of patients as well as their attendants on the hospital premises,” the commission ordered.
As many as five patients were bitten by stray dogs inside the hospital premises during the last week delaying vital procedures like chemotherapy and radiation critical for cancer treatment.
The commission has observed that the contents of the media report, if true, amount to the violation of the human rights of the patients. Apparently, the hospital management has not been following the charter of patients’ rights issued by the NHRC, which is not acceptable in a rule-based society, it pointed out.
The NHRC charter provides for the right to safety and quality care according to standards that include a proper environment on the hospital premises having requisite cleanliness, infection control measures and safe drinking water as per BIS/FSSAI standards besides sanitation facilities.
“Patients have a right to be attended to, treated, and cared for with due skill in a professional manner in complete consonance with the principles of medical ethics,” the commission stated in its order.
The 281-bed premier government cancer hospital that witnesses a footfall of 700 to 1,000 patients daily remains overcrowded with several patients waiting under the rest shed, verandah and open sky.
Citing cases of two cancer patients, who suffered dog bites on the hospital premises leading to a delay in their treatment, TNIE had highlighted how stray dogs roam freely in the hospital wards, bite the patients and their attendants and snatch food from them.