Infants at risk in unhygienic GB Pant Hospital

The premises are filled with sewage overflowing from drains and manholes and garbage is littered in every corner of the hospital, including the wards.
As one enters the hospital gate, one is greeted by filthy water. The overflowing manholes spill sewage from the hospital on the entrance and makes walking difficult. The stench emanating from the sewers is ‘obnoxious’ even to the vendors selling stuff outside the gate.
The hospital emergency entrance is partly blocked by overfilled dustbins. Soiled diapers, food leftovers and medical waste are littered around these dustbins. The mandatory medical waste segregation is confined to the placement of colorful dustbins in this hospital and many others too. The reality of medical waste is a matter of grave concern, experts say.
Dr. Munir Masoodi, Medical Superintendent of GB Pant Pediatric Hospital, claimed, “The hospital has been thoroughly sanitized and it is in a hygienic condition.” When asked about the overflowing drains, he said, “Sometimes the ground water level is high and this makes the sewers overflow.”
It is pertinent to mention that water table in the valley drops the lowest in autumn and there has been no precipitation lately.
Pediatricians at the hospital said that the health hazard of the litter and garbage in the hospital is a serious one. “Here we have newborns and very small children whose immune systems are not as strong as that of adults. Plus they come here with infections which has further weakened their immunity. This hospital has enough load of infections in the environs to complicate matters for them,” a senior pediatrician previously working at GB Pant hospital said.
The hospital washrooms are no different. The stench is unbearable, said the attendants. “I am here for the past three days with my daughter who has been admitted. I have not been able to eat because of the washroom stench,” Javed Ahmed from Zakura said.
There is no provision of potable water at the hospital. Attendants have no choice but to buy bottled water for the consumption of their own and that of their patients. The beds, furniture and much of the fittings damaged in the September floods has been stored in the hospital corridors. Needless to mention, this equipment is flood-infected and is far from being sanitized.
Security guards posted at the entrance of many parts of the hospital make sure that the attendants take their shoes off but the floors are dirty. Officials at the hospital agreed that the hospital is not cleaned properly. They attributed the mess to lack of enough manpower in the cleaning section.
Health of children in the valley continues to be exposed to untold dangers at this hospital. GB Pant hospital looks pretty much like a clinic functioning from a garbage site, quite harmonious with the marshy land adjacent to it.