When sorrows come, they come not single spies,

But in battalions - William Shakespeare (Hamlet)

BIHAR is in mourning. It has lost more than a hundred children in the age group of 1 to 12 years to Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES) in Muzaffarpur, Champaran, Sitamarhi and some other adjoining districts. Heat stroke has also devoured the lives of another hundred people in southern part of the state, particularly Aurangabad, Gaya and Nawada.

The recurrence of tragedies of such magnitude never disturbs the ruling dispensation of Bihar. They always find some alibis to exonerate themselves of the responsibility of providing quality treatment to the suffering masses. They have failed to find any solution to save the children, dying like flies.

Deputy chief minister of Bihar and BJP leader Sushil Modi made a startling statement that even America is clueless about this mysterious disease (…) and what is implicit in his statement is that, that nobody should question the inability of the government to save the children.

The whole world has seen how Bihar health minister Mangal Pandey was more interested in knowing the latest score of a cricket match between India and Pakistan during the press conference of union health minister Harsh Vardhan on his visit to Muzaffarpur. Another BJP central minister, Ashwini Choubey, was dozing during the press conference.

The visits of these ministers cannot hide the fact that the central and state governments have totally failed to find ways and means to combat the dreaded disease which only devours the lives of poor malnourished children of the marginalised sections of the society.

CPI(M) DELEGATION VISITS MUZAFFARPUR HOSPITAL

A CPI(M) delegation, comprising state secretary Awadhesh Kumar, state secretariat member Arun Kumar Mishra and AIDWA vice president Rampari, SFI leader Kumar Nishant, Muzaffarpur district secretary Gaffar and other district leaders, visited SKMCH (Shree Krishna Medical College and Hospital) on June 17 and met the family members of the children being treated in the hospital and those who have lost their loved ones. It was a heart wrenching sight. Children of different ages between some months to 12 years were being treated in the very few ICU wards and even outside the wards, in the corridor and whatever space was available in the crowed hospital.

The milling crowd inside and outside the hospital was restless and seething with anger as they felt helpless in the face of unending news of deaths of children. The children who are dying, come from the marginalised sections of the society, one which is categorised as extremely backward caste. They are malnourished and they never get sufficient calorie intake. They don’t get clean water and live in unhygienic conditions. There is a story that toxins in Litchi, which is produced in abundance in Muzaffarpur, is the cause of the mysterious AES (Acute Encephalitis Syndrome). The medical fraternity and the central and state governments are in the dark.

The steady deterioration of public health system has reached an alarming stage amidst the mushrooming growth of private clinics. The delegation members came to know by talking to the doctors that if the children inflicted with the disease reach the hospital within an hour, they can be saved and many have been saved. But for the poor people, it is very difficult to bring the afflicted children within an hour to the hospital. They need ambulances as most of the nearby primary health centres are non-functional. No doctor, no nurse, no medicine – one has to reach the district headquarter to get the treatment. Even the medical colleges and hospitals are ill-equipped to deal with the outbreak of such epidemics.

SKMCH, which is the premier public health centre of north Bihar, lacks infrastructure, sufficient ICUs and research environment to find out the cause of outbreak of this disease which visits Muzaffarpur and other adjoining districts every year.

After interacting with doctors, the suffering parents and the common people in the hospital, the delegation came to the conclusion that poverty, malnutrition, unhygienic living conditions, unavailability of free and quality treatment and the apathy of the government to meet the situation are the main causes of this dreaded disease.

A news published in the Patna edition of The Times of India, corroborates the findings of the CPI(M) delegation. According to the report, “malnutrition is the common trend observed in most of the children suffering from AES, as they belong to poor families”.

Briefing journalists in Muzaffarpur, Awadhesh Kumar put forth the following demands on behalf of the CPI(M) state committee:

1. Health Minister Mangal Pandey must resign immediately as he has totally failed to discharge his duty

2. A high-level committee of medical experts should be constituted to find out the causes of disease and the ways to combat it

3. The families who lost their loved ones should be adequately compensated. The least the government can do is to release Rs 4 lakh as announced by it for any such calamity

4. The infrastructure of SKMCH should be upgraded and the campus should be kept clean and hygienic

5. Primary health centres should be made functional with doctors, nurses, medicines and other infrastructure in place.

The CPI(M) has also given a call to fight for free and quality treatment for all. In the meantime, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar visited SKMCH on June 18 and was greeted with the slogan of “Nitish   Kumar, Go Back”. As Kumar was visiting the hospital, three more deaths were recorded in his presence.