Two-member panel to probe negligence in diphtheria deaths in Delhi

NEW DELHI: The north corporation on Wednesday constituted an independent two-member committee comprising senior paediatricians from Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital and Maulana Azad Medical College to probe the high number of children dying from diphtheria at Maharishi Valmiki Infectious Diseases Hospital (MVID). Though no new deaths were reported on Wednesday, two children are still in a critical condition.


The extent of negligence at MVID can be gauged from the official report of the corporation which stated that no ADS serum vials were available at the hospital from March till August. The medical superintendent of MVID, Dr SK Gupta, has been suspended with immediate effect pending disciplinary proceedings. Mayor Adesh Gupta said stricter action will be taken if the final report confirms negligence.

North corporation commissioner Madhup Vyas said that an order of 1,000 serum vials has been placed with private distributors. While 100 vials arrived by Wednesday, the rest would be procured within 24 hours.

Questions have been raised as to why this procurement was not done earlier even though Rs 38 crore have been earmarked in the budget for diphtheria medicines. Data provided by the chief medical officer reveals that 3,360 vials were procured in 2014-15, 3,460 in 2015-16, 3,447 in 2016-17 and 3,132 in 2017-18. But only 250 vials were procured this year. At the same time, all the five positions of “specialists” are lying vacant at MVID.

The civic body has been under fire for non-procurement of the serum from CRI Lab at Kasauli — the only government manufacturing unit. The corporation has argued that the production of the serum had stopped at the Kasauli lab due to renovation work.

“In November 2017, 400 vials of ADS were made available. However, since then till September 22, 2018 no procurement could be made because CRI Lab at Kasauli was undergoing upgradation. During this period, patients were asked to bring vaccines from outside. The serum is now available in the hospital in enough quantity,” said a corporation official.

While the serum unit from Kasauli costs only Rs 350, the procurement price from private firms like Haffkine Bio-Pharmaceutical Corporation and Vins BioProducts is Rs 1,400. This raises the question whether the delay in procurement of the serum was due to hesitation on the behalf of officials to purchase expensive medicines.

Preventive vaccination for diphtheria, an acute infectious disease, is available for free under the universal immunisation programme. The primary treatment involves administering an anti-toxin to reduce the damage caused by toxins released due to the infection.