Bangladesh Probe Blames Negligence For Six Newborn Deaths

Dhaka: Bangladesh's health minister said six newborns who died within a few hours in the same hospital ward last week had effectively suffocated due to poor ventilation, blaming "extreme negligence" by health workers.

The infants, aged between one and three days, died on May 27 in the post-delivery ward of Ad-Din Hospital, a private facility in the capital Dhaka.

Health Minister Sardar Md Sakhawat Husain presented the investigation committee's report into the deaths on Thursday.

"There was extreme negligence and non-cooperation from the on-duty nurses," he said, describing "a lack of normal ventilation system".

Speaking immediately after the incident, Prabhat Chandra Biswas, head of the government's health department, said the deaths took place hours after an air-conditioning unit was turned off.

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No reason was given for why the unit was switched off, despite temperatures in Dhaka reaching around 32C alongside high humidity.

Husain described the ward was as "a small, enclosed room" at more than capacity.

"The decrease in oxygen in the air and the increase in carbon dioxide, made it impossible for the newborn babies to survive for long," he said.

One baby fell sick and was taken to an intensive care unit but was returned to the ward an hour later. Soon after, five other babies also became unwell. All died.

The report concluded that hospital administrators had failed to maintain basic operating standards, including ensuring adequate medical supervision, emergency preparedness and ventilation in the ward.

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