JORHAT: As many as 18 newborns died at the Jorhat Medical College and Hospital (JMCH) in the past nine days prompting the health department to order a probe into the incident. The probe is to be headed by the director of medical education. A representative of Unicef (United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund) is scheduled to visit the hospital on Saturday.
JMCH principal and chief superintendent Debajit Hazarika confirmed the deaths of the babies and said an internal inquiry headed by JMCH head of the department of paediatrics, Pranabjit Biswanath, has been conducted and the report was submitted on Friday. "As per the report of the internal inquiry committee, 15 newborns died at the special care newborn unit (SCNU) since November 1 because of lack of adequate infrastructure and complicated delivery. Of the total, 10 died due to low birth weight and three due to heart disease," he said.
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