SHC orders govt hospitals to attach identity tags to new-born babies

Around 70 to 80 babies are born in a government hospital every day

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) has ordered authorities to attach tags to new-born babies in public hospitals immediately after birth. The directives came during a hearing on reforms in public hospitals in a case relating the replacement and disappearance of new-born babies in the health facilities.

A two-member bench, comprising Justice Salahuddin Panhwar and Justice Shamsuddin Abbasi, issued the orders and directed the health secretary to ensure that all new-born babies were properly tagged.

Other suggestions for reforms relating to the security and identity of new-born babies in government hospitals were also presented before the court. The report suggests that immediate steps must be taken to ensure the security of new-born babies in public hospitals.

The report also reveals that parents try to replace their new-born daughters with boys. Around 70 to 80 babies are born at each government hospital on a daily basis and this number is much higher than the number of nurses present there. The identity tags are attached to the babies after bathing them, but there is a high likelihood of them being replaced due to the tags being attached late.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 6^th, 2019.