Another infant death at Vavuniya hospital triggers protest against doctors

Text and pic by Dinasena Ratugamage

Relatives of a nine-month-old infant, who died recently after being admitted to the Vavuniya District General Hospital, held a demonstration alleging that the baby had died due to doctors’ negligence. They requested the Ministry of Health to conduct an investigation into the death.

Initially, they protested within the hospital premises. The protesters told journalists that the baby had not received proper medical attention.

The deceased was from Thawasikulam. His name was Dinojan Aksayan.

The Health Ministry is conducting an investigation into the deaths of 73 infants at the same hospital last year.

Such a high number of infant deaths had not been reported even during the height of the war, the Ministry said.

Four parents have also taken legal action over the deaths of their babies in 2014 and six others have requested impartial investigations into deaths of their children. The parents claim that the negligence of doctors and the hospital staff was the cause of these deaths. 395 babies have died at the hospital from 2015 to 2021.

A hosptial official, contacted for comment, denied the allegation that Baby Dinojan’s death was due to doctors’ negligence. An inquiry would be conducted if a formal complaint was made to the hospital authorities, he said.