As the deadly disease continues to take a toll on the lives of hundreds of children in Bihar, in the latest update, Dr Bhimsen Kumar has been subjected to suspension. He is a senior doctor at SKMCH in Muzaffarpur, the hospital that has reported the highest number of casualties of over 109. The nation has awakened with questioning the cause and management of the epidemic, and also the response of the state and central government, which is quite eased-off despite this being a matter of grave concern.
The medical fraternity has firmly held malnutrition, poor infrastructure and lack of medicines to be the primary causes of death. Although serious, this is a disease that could be brought under control had the above things been in place. The deaths were actually preventable! Many doctors from different regions of the country are coming forward to help the doctors in Bihar combat the spread of the disease but the unfortunate fact is that the hospitals don’t even have sufficient glucose supply for the admitted children.
One such person is Dr Kafeel who was punished in the infamous case of Gorakhpur child deaths; he has put up a camp with a group of doctors wherein the children—who have the slightest symptoms or even no symptoms—are being examined so that the infection can be avoided. The doctors who are trying their best by catering to each and every patient are simply bearing the brunt of sheer infrastructural mismanagement. The various healthcare policies introduced by the central government of India have not been made available adequately.
In this situation, wherein greater initiatives of providing the necessary treatment are required, what sense does it make in suspending doctors? This is not going to have any positive impact on the current condition of the ailing children. Or is this step taken just to cover up the lapses and indifference of the state government towards this important issue? There is no denial to the fact that in the General Election 2019; the healthcare issue was not a priority. Other than introducing a few policies, nothing was promised or speculated. What impact can free healthcare services make if there is a huge scarcity of medicines? Earlier it was thought that the pathogenesis of the disease was unknown and hence it was difficult to control; however, paediatricians who have Encephalitis as their area of specialisation believe this can be controlled.
This is a severe crisis that the government must try to combat at any possible cost. Instead of blaming the doctors, they must come up to their assistance in every possible way. For once at least things can be taken care of without looking at people as prospective vote banks.