PIMS tragedy

A horrible tragedy has occurred at the heart of the capital city, shaking the nation to its core. Fourteen newborn babies are dead after a fire tore through the Mother and Child Hospital at PIMS. They were among the most helpless patients imaginable, incapable of fleeing or calling for help. Their parents entrusted them to a state hospital. The state failed them.

The tragedy was barely hours old when the machinery of political theatre swung into action. Politicians and officials descended on PIMS to perform their familiar ritual of outrage. Condolences were expressed and promises of the "strictest action" were made. An official was suspended and committees were announced. The spectacle of governance was put on display while grieving families were left to deal with the reality of 14 dead children. Yet none of the hollow promises could answer the most basic question of why these babies were not safe inside a government hospital. This is not a question that can be buried beneath the suspension of one official or the formation of another committee. The bureaucracy cannot be allowed to investigate itself and then present its own version of failure as accountability. The responsibility equally lies with those who were charged with ensuring that PIMS was properly equipped and prepared for an emergency. If those responsibilities were neglected, the people responsible must be identified and punished – no matter how high or low they are in the power corridors.

This tragedy is a damning indictment of a healthcare system in free-fall and a government failing in its most basic responsibility to protect its citizens. And the deterioration is not confined to PIMS. Public hospitals across Pakistan operate under conditions that should embarrass any government claiming to provide healthcare. The devastating loss of life at PIMS serves as an undeniable confirmation of Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi's recent warning that Pakistan's governance system has completely collapsed.

For once, the government should spare the country another performance of outrage followed by administrative amnesia and do its job by ensuring that hospitals are safe and citizens receive the healthcare they are entitled to.