PALAKKAD: One more infant death has been reported from Nellipathy ooru in Attappadi. The baby boy of Pazhaniswamy and Rankamma was born dead at a private hospital at Aanakatti on Friday night.
The family, however, alleged that the mother did not receive proper treatment.
It was on December 19 that Rankamma was admitted to the Government tribal speciality hospital at Kottathara. She developed pain on Friday night. The family said there was no gynaecologist at the hospital. The mother was thus sent to a private hospital at Aanakatti.
There are no gynaecologists at the Kottathara tribal hospital. Of the two doctors at the hospital, one of them has been on leave for the past two months. The other doctor has been on leave for the past two weeks, attending government training. No alternative arrangements have been made. Some doctors of the hospital have also been posted on Sabarimala duty.
The Attappadi nodal health officer and superintendent of the Kottathara tribal speciality hospital Dr Prabhudas said both the gynaecologists were absent: one on leave and the other on training and there were no alternate mechanism.
He said in spite of the absence of gynaecologists, the doctors at the Kottathara tribal hospital used to attend to normal deliveries. But in this case, the umbilical chord of the mother got entangled around the neck of the infant.
As there was no time to transport the mother to Mannarkad taluk hospital or the Kozhikode medical college, she was referred to the nearby private hospital.
The technician of the Government Tribal speciality hospital at Kottathara accompanied the mother to the private hospital. The surgery was conducted and the life of the mother was saved, he added.
This was the 15th death of an infant in Attappadi this year. In 2017, 14 infants had died in Attappadi.
HRC asks state to file report
Palakkad : The Kerala State Human Rights Commission member K Mohan Kumar has directed the government to submit a report on the recurring infant deaths in the adivasi areas of Attappadi and the reasons for the same.
The principal secretaries of the Health Department and the Scheduled Tribe Welfare Department have been asked to submit a report within three weeks. The Commission has also asked the Palakkad district collector, DMO and the District Scheduled Tribe Development Officer to submit a report within three weeks on the activities undertaken for the welfare of pregnant women and infants in the adivasi areas which needed special attention. The case will be heard at the sitting to be held in Palakkad on January 30.