The families also complained about unhygienic living conditions in Govandi, which is located close to the Deonar dumping ground. (Representational/File)THE HIGH-LEVEL multi-disciplinary team appointed by the Union Health Ministry on Saturday visited the families of the children, who succumbed to measles in Govandi’s Rafi Nagar slum. While still recovering from the sudden death of his two adolescent children due to suspected measles, Abdul Rehman Khan complained about the hospital’s efficiency to treat his children with the officials.
“My children could have been saved if treated on time. The senior doctors weren’t present. The junior doctors are inefficient…,” he said.
Although the civic-run Shatabdi Hospital is nearest to the slum dwellers in Govandi, due to unavailability of doctors, they are forced to rush to Sion hospital or Rajawadi hospital in case of emergencies.
The families also complained about unhygienic living conditions in Govandi, which is located close to the Deonar dumping ground.
The three-member team, including Dr Shubhangi Kulsange, deputy director at National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and Dr Viswas Chhapola, a paediatrician at Lady Hardinge Medical College said they are still investigating the outbreak in Govandi. “It is too early to comment as we are taking a review of the situation,” said Dr Kulsange.
The team instructed BMC to increase door-to-door surveillance and track the children, who dropped out of the immunisation programme. At present, the city has 617 suspected measles cases with 109 confirmed patients.
Between September and October, a total of 84 cases of measles have been reported in the city. Most of them are from the M-East ward that covers Govandi.