[ Tongam Rina ]
Death cannot be predicted. It chooses its own time, but lives are and can be prolonged if medical attention is given on time. Unfortunately, like thousands of others in the state, Desu Pertin Jerang, pregnant with twins, did not get the opportunity for proper treatment.
As it stands, the state’s health department, the doctors who attended to her and did not attend to her, and hospitals which admitted her and barred her will be able to answer why she and her unborn twins died. I hope they do, so that no family has to bear the lifelong pain, questions and emptiness ever again.
She was transported from the RKMH to Heema Hospital, and died on the way to the TRIHMS. Precious hours were lost with the woman and her family being shunted from one hospital to the other.
There may be a thousand excuses, but the fact remains that she and her unborn children did not get the medical care that was due to her.
Covid-19 has deprived many of the required treatment, and now it should not be an excuse for deaths.
I hope the health department of Arunachal and the government of Arunachal will contemplate what happened and find ways to address it, so that nobody is denied healthcare.
A day after the tragic death of Desu Pertin Jerang, there is no statement as yet from the health department or the government.
Fixing and owning responsibility is important, so that such tragedies do not occur again.
What are the guidelines for private and government-funded hospitals?
The health department shall have to ask itself what it has not done and what needs to be done for maternity healthcare and others in need of critical healthcare during the times of Covid-19.
There are no records yet on maternity and child mortality because of inaccessible healthcare, denial of healthcare, or because of Covid-19.
It is rather tragic that we are asking what has to be done after the loss of three precious lives, including two unborn, who never got a chance to see the world.
The government has been harping about the ‘new normal’ and how we should learn to live with it. Have the hospitals -private and government-aided – been informed how they should respond to the new normal? Or is shunting patients from one hospital to another because there is no clear government guideline on how seriously ill patients should be treated the new normal?
Designate a hospital where pregnant women can get treated and children are born safe and treatment ensured to patients in need of emergency care in the nearest hospital.
Desu Pertin Jerang and her unborn children died in the state capital, the supposed centre of governance and health facilities.
May the state government, its system, and those who denied her healthcare take responsibility and find what should be done next. Death may be statistics for hospitals and the government, but it isn’t statistics for families who lost their precious ones. Deaths are real.
