Infant’s death blamed on Punjab CM’s protocol

Strict security protocol of Punjab CM allegedly took the life of an infant at the Children’s Hospital here on Monday.

LAHORE: Strict security protocol of Punjab Chief Minister (CM) Shahbaz Sharif allegedly took the life of an infant at the Children’s Hospital here on Monday.

However, the hospital administration and the government spokesperson claimed that the baby died before the CM’s visit to the hospital.

Attendants of other patients said the baby died after his father was not allowed to enter the hospital due to security measures. They alleged that if the baby had received timely medical treatment he might have been saved.

However, a spokesperson for the Punjab government Pervez Rashid said the CCTV footage shows that nobody stopped the parents of the newborn and no delay was made in medical treatment for the child.

The baby’s father, Mohammad Farooq, a resident of Gujranwala, alleged that his baby died due to the strict security protocol. He said that he reached the Children’s Hospital at around 9am and tried to enter but some civilian and uniformed security officials stopped him for around 30 minutes. He said that he along with his sister-in-law and his old mother begged the personnel to let them in the hospital.

He said that he was asked to provide an identity card in order to admit their babies. Farooq did not have his own and gave his driver’s Computerised National Identity Card (CNIC). The doctors first showed their reluctance but then said they would not treat his other baby until the CNIC was provided. “I immediately left the hospital and managed to get my CNIC photocopy from another hospital, which was at quite a distance, he said.

“When I returned, the hospital’s security did not allow me to go inside,” he added.  Upon intervention by attendants and the media, he was allowed to enter and he found that one of his children had expired and the doctors were “not serious” about treating his other child. “After I spoke to the media, the doctors started to thrash me and asked me to take my baby and leave the hospital,” he alleged.

Children’s Hospital medical director Dr Ahsan Rathore told The Express Tribune that according to CCTV footage the child had been given treatment before the CM’s visit. Rathore added that the baby had died because he was born premature and reached the hospital after travelling for four hours.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 14^th, 2010.