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Written By: Editorial Team | Updated : October 25, 2014 4:47 PM IST
Crib deaths at West Bengal's Malda Medical College and Hospital continues unabated with three more babies dying since Friday to take the toll to 18.
'Three more babies, all brought here in very critical condition, have died since Friday. Since Monday 18 babies, mostly newborn have died,' Medical Superintendent and Vice Principal M.A. Rashid said adding that all the infants were either underweight or malnourished.
Rashid said special measures including arranging for 24 hours availability of neonatal experts are being taken to prevent more deaths.
The state-run hospital has frequently witnessed infant deaths in the recent past. In July, over a dozen babies died, while in June at least 19 infants died of encephalitis. In January, over a dozen crib deaths occurred.
In 2011, 109 babies died at Malda Medical College and Hospital, and 48 at BC Roy in 2011 but the government seems to have done nothing except creating a task-force. Unless primary healthcare and secondary healthcare units are revamped, crib deaths will continue. There's an urgent need to improve infrastructure at sub-divisional and district level hospitals so only a few big hospitals aren't burdened with the cases of sick infants. There's also a need to educate people about the importance of nourishing food and regular prenatal visits during pregnancy to bring down the neonatal mortality rate.
With inputs from IANS
Photo source: Getty images
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