A minister’s claim that no deaths due to medical oxygen shortages have been reported by the states has sparked a firestorm, with criticism pouring in. Bharati Pravin Pawar, a minister of state in the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, told the Rajya Sabha that “health is a state subject. All states / UTs […]
medical oxygen
Oxygen cylinders a must during COVID-19
Rajasthan has recorded a substantial increase in demand for oxygen cylinders amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. This encapsulates the need for medical oxygen and ventilators imperative during this crisis. A report by Times News Network (TNN) notes that “with more oxygen-supported beds being added for COVID-19 treatment in hospitals across the state, the demand for oxygen […]
Oxygen shortages: Health Ministry issues denial, says there is a surplus
The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has said there are no medical oxygen shortages in the country. Reports of oxygen shortages in the country have surfaced in recent weeks. Al Jazeera reports that multiple states severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, including Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Uttar Pradesh, have witnessed a threefold increase in […]
Ventilators, oxygen and COVID
The number of Indian COVID-19 patients requiring ventilators is low, Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan has reported. Of currently-infected patients, just 0.33 percent require assistance breathing with ventilators and 1.5 percent require oxygen support. 2.34 percent are in intensive care, the Minister said. The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in India – the […]
Kota: Tragedy strikes children in Rajasthan hospital
Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan is taking cognisance of a tragedy in a hospital in the Rajasthan city of Kota, with more than 100 children dying in the span of a single month in a single hospital. The Union Minister has written to Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, concerning the government-run JK Lon Hospital […]
Gorakhphur doctor cleared, two years on
Gorakhpur doctor Dr Kafeel Khan, the physician at the heart of the tragedy at the BRD Medical College, has been cleared of all wrongdoing in the incident more than two years after the event. In August 2017, the Baba Raghav Des (BRD) Medical College in the Gorakhpur district of Uttar Pradesh witnessed more than 300 […]
After Gorakhpur tragedy, doctors calls for inquiry
![The BRD Medical College, centre of the Gorakhpur tragedy in Uttar Pradesh - the state named the worst in India for health. Image credit: By SONUKURIAN (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons By SONUKURIAN (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons](https://d1o5numy7xgf2v.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/BRD_MEDICAL_COLLEGEGORAKHPUR-150x150.jpg "Tragedy in Gorakhpur: Newborns die, oxygen shortages to blame?")
This August will mark the second anniversary of the Gorakhpur tragedy, where more than 325 children died in the space of a month at a government-run hospital in the Uttar Pradesh city. This included the deaths of thirty children in a 48-hour period at the beginning of the month. Now, one of the doctors who […]
Without a ventilator, a family struggles to keep their child alive
In Delhi, a boy is alive and breathing only because his family is pumping air into his lungs. Three-year-old Farhan is on a manual ventilator for a week as he battles for his life at Lok Nayak Hospital. Farhan suffers from a rare neurological disorder called Leigh syndrome. However, the hospital lacks a spare ventilator, […]
Medical oxygen sees tax increase
In the wake of the Gorakpur tragedy, it has been revealed that medical oxygen has seen a tax increase. Medical oxygen has seen its tax rate rise to 18 percent under the recently updated Goods and Services Tax (GST) which fixed the cost of most life saving medicines at a lower rate of five percent tax. […]