PUNE, 3 January 2008 — Up to 27 out of 33 eye patients recently lost their vision following cataract surgery at an eye camp in the Parbhani district of Maharashtra, raising questions about the government’s poor administration on public sector health care in the state.
The state government’s negligence in public health care was highlighted when news surfaced about 27 people in Parbhani who lost vision.
The news has sent shockwaves across the state with people venting their anger against both the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). The people who have become blind are farm laborers from the village of Bori in Parbhani. The majority has been admitted to the Parbhani Civic Hospital while two others patients were referred for further treatment to a specialized hospital in Mumbai.
According to ophthalmologists, the likely cause of blindness and complications could be infection during operation.
State Minister for Health Pramila Mundada rushed to Parbhani to take stock of the situation. She arrived in Pune in the early hours of Tuesday, while on her way to Mumbai to brief Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh about the cases. Cases of medical negligence in the state’s government-run hospitals are abound and, allegedly, often kept away from the glare of the media and the public.
The dire situation of the health sector in the state can be gauged from the fact that over 13 positions for deans for medical institutions and hospitals in the state have been vacant for several years.
The Sassoon General Hospital and the B.J. Medical College, one of the state’s top government hospitals, are being run for two years by an acting-dean.
According to sources, the Sassoon General Hospital has become a battleground for caste affiliations with doctors and employees being used to settle personal scores. Poor quality medicine is being provided to patients and doctors are also alleged to keep government surgical equipments under lock to prevent other doctors from using them.
When such issues are brought to the attention of the chief minister and other top state officials, they are ignored.
Ramesh Bhoite, a senior Congress leader, told Arab News, asked who is to be blamed if people die and become blind due to the negligence of the state government.
