Pregnant woman dies in Manipur after hospitals deny admission; Governor orders probe

Our Correspondent
Kohima, Aug. 7 (EMN): A pregnant woman from Manipur died along with her unborn child on Thursday after she was allegedly denied admission by several hospitals in Imphal, prompting the governor of the state to set up an enquiry committee to investigate into the matter.

The joint secretary of Health and Family Welfare, R Rang Peter, stated in the enquiry order that the young woman identified as Kanpatliu Kamei (20), wife of Roshan Balang, from Puichi (Oktan) village died along with her unborn child at around 4 am on Thursday, at the Shija Hospitals and Research Institute casualty entrance.

The enquiry committee comprising two officials namely Dr. H Babychand, Additional Director (Plg), Medical Directorate Lamphel as the chairperson, and Dr. Premchandra, Deputy Director, (PH), Medical Directorate, Lamphel as the member, has been constituted to look into what led to the death of the young woman.

The order also asked all the concerned hospitals to extend co-operation with the enquiry committee, which supposed to submit a report within a period of one week from the date of constitution of the committee to the Health department.

The pregnant woman arrived at the Senapati District Hospital with her family at around 2 pm on August 5 for delivery but the doctors in the facility advised to take her to Imphal at around 10.30 pm on the same day after she developed complications, according to reports. So, the family hired a private vehicle for Imphal, but on reaching the state capital, she was reportedly denied treatment at five different hospitals including two government hospitals -- Jawaharlal Nehru Institute of Medical Sciences (JNIMS) and Regional Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) – despite producing Covid-19 Negative test result.

It was reported that the expected mother and her unborn baby died at around 4 am at the casualty entrance of Shija Hospitals and Research Institute before the family could approach the hospital authorities.

Following outrage over the incident, the principal secretary of Health and Family Welfare, V Vumlunmang, also issued an order on August 6 instructing the hospitals to continue providing non-Covid health services, stating that many healthcare facilities are denying service to patients due to the ongoing pandemic.

The order stated that the Ministry of Home Affairs has also issued instructions to hospitals, veterinary hospitals and all related medical establishments, both in public and private sector, to continue to remain functional.

The order further instructed all the government hospitals and private hospitals to ensure that all patients who reach their facilities are attended to promptly, especially emergency and time-bound cases. Each hospital and health facility shall designate responsible staff to ensure there is no denial of service, the order read.

It went on to state that to enable prompt Covid testing, state government would provide Rapid Antigen Kits through the Directorate of Health Services.

Any violations will be viewed very severely and action will be taken under the Manipur Nursing Homes and Clinical Registration Act, 1992 etc. Action may also be taken under the Disaster Management Act, 2005 for failure to comply with directions of the State Government, the order added.