Top court to take up plea on sending team to Bihar

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, June 19

As more than 100 children die of suspected acute encephalitis syndorme (AES) in Bihar, the Supreme Court today agreed to hear on June 24 a PIL seeking direction to the Centre to intervene and urgently send a team of medical experts to Muzaffarpur for treatment of children suffering from the disease.

A vacation Bench headed by Justice Deepak Gupta agreed to take up the issue on Monday after the petitioner's counsel sought an urgent listing of the matter.

Filed by advocate Manohar Pratap, the PIL sought direction to the Centre to provide all necessary medical help and support for effective treatment of children suffering from the epidemic. The petitioner also demanded compensation of Rs 10 lakh to surviving members of family of each child who died due to negligence of the state machinery.

Pratap claimed he was deeply pained and saddened by the deaths of children, mostly in the age group of one to 10 years, in the past one week and the figures were rising by the day.

“The deaths of children are a direct result of negligence and inaction on part of the respective state governments of Bihar, UP and Union of India in handling the epidemical situation, which arises every year due to outbreak of AES also called Japanese encephalitis,” the plea alleged. It said thousands of young children were losing lives yearly from the disease but the governments (state and Centre) had done nothing to prevent its spread.

"This year… the epicenter is Muzaffarpur in Bihar…. Media reports show there is acute shortage of doctors, medical facilities, intensive care units and other medical equipment in the hospitals in nearby areas and children are dying in hospitals due to lack of required facilities," the petition said.

The petitioner sought direction to the Centre for constituting a board of experts in the medical field and immediately sending it to the place of the outbreak i.e. Muzaffarpur, to review and assist the emergency situation.

The plea also sought direction to the Central and Bihar governments for immediately arranging 500 stationary and 100 mobile intensive care units with required medical professionals.

Toll mounts to 113

Muzaffarpur: Fresh deaths due to acute encephalitis syndrome have been reported in Muzaffarpur district, taking the total number of casualties to 113. The deaths took place at Shri Krishna Medical College and Hospital (SKMCH), where 20 fresh cases were brought since Tuesday night. The number of children admitted to the hospital with the disease is 372 since June 1, the district administration said. The SKMCH has reported 93 casualties so far and only 118 children have been discharged after treatment. PTI 

Centre rushes paediatricians to Muzaffarpur

• Facing heat on unabated child deaths in Muzaffarpur, the Centre on Wednesday rushed five teams of senior paediatricians and paramedics to the district to further strengthen containment and disease management efforts.
• Ten pediatricians (including five senior consultants) and five paramedics from Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, Safdarjung and Lady Hardinge Medical Colleges will be part of the five teams.
• “The teams will strengthen the clinical care to the existing patients in the hospitals and also strengthen surveillance of cases from the peripheral areas,” Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said. TNS