HYDERABAD: IT happens very often that an underlying systemic crack is revealed only after it leaves a major tragedy in its wake. The Thursday’s incident of the death of two infants caused after being given the wrong medicine reveals one such crack in the system of Urban Primary Health Centres in the State capital.
In a ground report from at least four UPHCs in the city, Express finds an urgent need to pay attention to the way UPHCs are governed in the city.
One of the biggest issues is the high attrition rate prevalent in a majority of the city’s 85 centres. Technicians employed in the centres tend to change every month with most of them leaving for private medical institutions in search better opportunities.
New entrants in the medical field, use the initial experience of working in a UPHC to secure a promotion to an upper-level job in private hospitals. While they benefit off of the system, it is the quality of care provided at UPHCs, that suffers.
Even in the Thursday’s incident, the pharmacist deployed at the centre mistook an opioid drug for a paracetamol tablet and distributed the same to scores of parents of newly-vaccinated children which resulted in the death of two kids.
At Sanjeeva Reddy Nagar’s UPHC, a new laboratory has been launched recently. However, due to the lack of an experienced hand, it is being managed by freshers. Additionally, the lab at Sanjeeva Reddy Nagar centre does not have a generator to keep the fridges running in case of a power outage. There is a good chance that many vaccines to get spoilt and threatening children’s lives.
Meanwhile, the UPHC located in the slums of Rasoolpura may have a newly-constructed building for itself but snaking queues of women line outside it. The one-room centre has no space to seat the patients while they wait.
Similarly, at the Chilkalguda UPHC, pregnant women can be seen queuing outside the centre since there is space for only one person at a time. While at the Sanath Nagar centre faces a shortage of drugs like Vitamin A, forcing patients to purchase these tablets from other more expensive private chemists.
Police collect samples from Nampally UPHC
A day after the Habeebnagar police registered cases in connection with death of two infants after being administered wrong medication at Nampally Urban Primary Health Centre, police collected samples from the centre. The Goshamahal ACP M Narender Reddy said based on statements of parents, police have collected samples at the health centre and sent to forensic lab.
2 more babies admitted to Niloufer
The number of infants admitted at Niloufer hospital due to the blunder caused by staff at Nampally UPHC increased to 34 Friday. Till Thursday, 32 infants were admitted to the hospital, of whom three were critical and put on ventilator. However, Friday hospital authorities said that all the infants were out of danger and will be discharged from Saturday.