‘D’ for ‘D’elhi or ‘D’ For ……….. ‘D’ENGUE

Now days delhi is in news for all the wrong reasons , may it be Serial Blasts or the Blast of mehrauli two weeks later ,or the Brave encounter of terrorists at Jamia Nagar or the protests of Human (un)Rights Commission against the encounter,Or the Death of BraveHeart M.C.Sharma or the conspiracy surrounding his death . But in all the midst the biggest threat to people of Delhi is somewhat ignored . Yes I am talking of DENGUE .

You must be thinking what such a topic is doing on this blog , or Himanshu has just awaken from the sleep .Well first of all , my midsems are over so i have a lot of time to write for the article. My Uncle picked up Dengue this weekend and was referred to GTB Hospital for treatment from a private clinic after tests confirming his platelet count of 70000(50% of the minimum level). I went to see him today and what i saw there, is my reason for the article.

Let me give some intro about Dengue treatment in Delhi. Dengue in its last stage needs blood to be given to the patient. There are just 10 centres in Delhi where platelet separator machines are available: GTB Hospital, Bara Hindu Rao Hospital, LNJP Hospital, RML Hospital, AIIMS , Safdarjung Hospital, Rotary, Army R&R Hospital, DDU and International Red Cross. GTB caters to most of East Delhi and is very imp. for Dengue cases having the a Blood Bank.

GTB Hospital

I reached there at 10.30 am today(i.e. 28-09-08) and managed to see uncle only by about 1-2 pm .The situation i saw there was horrendous . First of all my uncle was on seventh floor. Most of the patients were on 7th floor only .Every floor had only one ward accept the seventh one which had 10 wards(Ward no. 17-27).Whats the reason of punishing the patients and there realtives ? Also considering the fact that 1-2 lifts work at a time out of 4 (If you are lucky!!!).

Next Comes the interiors of the wards . Two-Two people were put on one bed(Docs say there could be more on one bed too !!!).Imagine the situation you reaching a hospital in utmost pain and you have to share your bed with some one else !!!(leave the fact u can get many contegious diseases from others) Oxygen mask pipes were lying on the floor,coming under the feets of every one passing by . Hygiene was the last thing to look out there .

Hmm this one is interesting .In Dengue the platelets count dips exponentially .Every Second is Precious. So what do you think about the maximum time to get the report of a blood test.By theory itz 2hrs(as docs say).But ground reality min. 4-5 hrs.Even more .

Govt. is very strict for dengue cases ,then also such mishandeling .Why ? Are these cases even registered as dengue cases in govt. hospital registers ? I dont Know, But no doctor has diagonosed my uncle with Dengue there in written ,they just say “Symptoms of Dengue” and “Keep 2-3 people ready for donating blood,he can get in need of it any time”. With this point a Question comes in mind .What is the toll of Dengue cases this summer in Delhi . “Over 500 people have been given blood”, internal people of hospital say (I cant validate it , so dont hang me on this) .But if itz true , then is it reflected in govt. register of dengue cases .

Note : The above statements are only for GTB hospital this summer(Think of whole Delhi yourself) .

If we consider the above statement true then what’s the reason of such a surge in Dengue cases .”Mosquito count has risen a lot after the Yamuna floods ” , a local resident of that area laments. Hasn’t there been some thing done to prevent mosquito growth in water cloggings after the floods.

My uncle’s condition is getting steady and as need of blood donation does not seem likely so we would be shifting him from GTB hospital to some private one soon . But what about rest ??

I am not playing the blame game . There are just too many patients to handle for a single big hospital in East Delhi(East Delhi also hosts lakhs of immigrants, in overlycrowded places like seelampur ,shahdara etc) .So cant Blame on hospitals only. But poor people also have the right to live . They cant afford private treatment. Will Buildig more hospitals do the trick ? I dont think so . There is a lot of mismanagement , which i suppose the root cause for all problems in govt. hospitals . Only 10 hospitals have platelet separator machines in whole of delhi(one for army). Thinking of Dengue only, this number should be increased .

REST IS FOR YOU ALL TO ANALYSE .