Civic officials visit the house of the deceased children and speak to doctors to find out what exactly caused the deaths; say family responded poorly to all immunisation drives in the area
BMC officials at the deceased’s house in Rafi Nagar, Govandi, on Monday
The BMC has swung into action and is probing the deaths of three children of a Govandi family within 48 hours after a mid-day report highlighted the incident. Civic officials visited the house of the deceased in Rafi Nagar slum on Monday to inquire with the parents. Officials suspect this may be the result of measles apart from malnutrition.
Civic officials learnt that the family did not respond properly to the immunisation drives for kids. Officials also got in touch with doctors from Rajawadi Hospital who had treated two of the kids to ascertain the reason behind the deaths.
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All three children—Hasnain, aged 5; Noorain, aged 3.5; and Fazal Khan, aged 1—had fever and rashes on their bodies. Noorain died on the way to Rajawadi Hospital on October 26 while Hasnain and Fazal died at the hospital while undergoing treatment on October 27.
Also read: Mumbai: 3 kids from one Govandi family die in 48 hours
The parents of the kids told BMC that none of the kids had been immunised routinely. Representation pics
As per the Fazal’s death certificate issued by the hospital, he died of Kwashiorkor or severe protein malnutrition. The hospital conducted a post-mortem of Hasnain but the report is still awaited. Meanwhile, the family had gotten a death certificate for Noorain from a local doctor who had cited loose motion and anaemia as reasons.
BMC visit
After mid-day reported on this on November 7, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation health department has launched a probe to find out what caused the deaths. As per civic officials, the kids were malnourished and the parents did not respond well to immunisations. The parents of one the kids also kept migrating, which posed obstacles for regular and timely immunisations.
During the BMC team’s visit to the deceased’s house, Noorain and Hasnain’s mother Sherunissa Khan told officials, “My children were immunised but not regularly.” However, when asked to produce the documents, she replied, “I don’t have it right now. Our house was demolished earlier and we misplaced our documents. So I’m not sure if we have it or not.”
BMC investigation finds that all three kids had rashes on their body and fever, which could point to measles
One of the BMC officials, wishing not to be named, said, “Hasnain and Noorain were the eighth and ninth children. Their mother has recently given birth to her tenth kid. This takes a toll on the health of the mother.”
Fazal’s mother Shaheen Khan said, “He was given the vaccine after birth and 1.5 months after that. We did not take him for vaccines after that.”
Primary probe result
BMC Executive Health Officer Dr Mangala Gomare said, “As per our primary investigation, we came to know that all three children developed rashes all over their body and also had a fever. These are clinical symptoms of measles, so we suspect that was the case here. Investigation is still on.”
“There is a strong refusal when it comes to family planning and immunisation, especially in Govandi. We always try to convince them but still we can’t force them. Now with UNICEF, we are approaching local community leaders and with their help, we will raise awareness among the people,” she added.
‘We live in pathetic state’
Speaking to mid-day, Shaheen, Fazal’s mother, said, “We live in pathetic conditions. There is no electricity or water. The BMC does not even come to clean sewage or collect garbage, so we do it on our own. No politician or civic body comes to help us because we are poor. Our children are falling sick because of the unhygienic conditions. I lost my son because of this.”
“I am three months pregnant and do not want any further investigation. When my son was ill, no one came to help us. When he was in need of an ambulance to take him to hospital or an ICU bed, nobody was there. But now everybody is coming here after his death,” she added.
BMC screening
The local ward has started screening the kids in the area for malnutrition in view of the deaths. M East ward health officer Dr Upalimitra Waghmare said, “Today, we have screened around 250 houses. Apart from routine surveillance on Tuesday, around 16 staff teams will reach out to around 1,000 houses in the vicinity. We will screen the children and also see if they are regularly immunised or not.”
Local doc under scanner
On the condition of anonymity, A BMC official who is part of the investigation said, “We have got information about Noorain’s death. The family had gotten a local BAMS (Bachelor of Ayurvedic Medicine and Surgery) doctor to issue Noorain’s death certificate. The doctor had mentioned the cause as loose motion and severe anaemia. However, it is contradictory to what we found during our investigation. We will ask the doctor about it.”
Role of organisations
A senior medical officer investigating the matter said, “There are three organisations—BMC, Anganwadi and an NGO—which are involved in immunisation and child care as well as raising awareness on the same in the area.”
“The awareness campaign for immunisation and malnutrition as well as family planning and implementation of all the national programs in the area are carried out by BMC. However, the family had responded poorly to the same,” he added.
The officer also claimed, “The second organisation is the local Anganwadi where all three kids were registered. The family, even in this case, did not take the advice and help extended to them. The third is NGO Apnalaya, which in collaboration with BMC, carries out awareness drives. It also makes available nutrition packets from Sion hospital for the kids, but their efforts to reach out to the family also failed.”
250
No. of houses local ward screened on Monday
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