Dear Editor,
Not only do we need an investigation into the death of the premature baby at the West Demerara Regional Hospital on March 30, 2017, but we need also an investigation into the silence and non-action of the Public Health Ministry. Their inexplicable absence when such a horrifying story is spreading like wildfire is irresponsible.
The silence of the Public Health Ministers and the Public Health Ministry relating to the death of the premature baby at the West Demerara Hospital is sickening and obnoxious. Something horrifying happened at the Hospital according to videos circulating on Facebook which have gone viral. These videos are dreadful and bring shame to the public health sector and Guyana. This horrifying story brings back those frightening images of a baby being eaten by a rat at the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPHC) in the 1980s. While the viral videos are damning and shameful to our country, the Ministers of Public Health and their Ministry are closeted at the Ministry, ignoring the outrage of people everywhere.
While I am not aware of all the details, there is indisputable evidence that a 21-week-old premature baby was born alive at the West Demerara Regional Hospital to a 16-year-old young lady. Further, there is evidence that the baby was alive for more than 12 hours. During this time, the baby’s mother and her family appeared to have monitored the struggles of the baby to survive. The baby’s mother and her family pleaded with the hospital staff to have the baby placed in an incubator or transferred to the GPHC. But it appears that the baby was considered as non-viable by hospital staff and the baby, therefore, was not provided with any intervention intended to sustain life. The family claimed the baby was placed in a bed pan and videos circulating on Facebook appear to verify this.
In addition, a porter seemed to have been involved in handling the premature baby.
While it is entirely possible that the baby might not have survived even with life-sustaining interventions, the hospital staff has an obligation to ensure that all possible interventions were employed to keep the baby alive. From the evidence available at this time to the public, no survival effort was made and from birth, a decision to treat as still-born was made by hospital staff, even as the family was pleading that something be done to help their breathing baby.
The Public Health Ministry is aware of the circumstances surrounding the death of this premature baby. It is now more than 96 hours since the unfortunate incident and not a word has emanated from the Public Health Ministry. The silence of the Public Health Ministers is obnoxious. I am aware that both Ministers and even the PS and Deputy PS were out of the country, but this does not absolve them from responsibility and accountability. Being out of the country is not an excuse. This matter has been widely discussed around the country and has gone viral on Facebook, stirring interest not only in Guyana and among Guyanese in the Diaspora, but beyond our borders and beyond Guyanese wherever we live. Yet the Ministers and the Ministry pretend as if this is a non-story.
If I am misinformed and if the Facebook story is wrong, then this horrendous story deserves an explanation from the Ministry. There may well be another side to the story, but the only story at the moment is one of horror. There is no dispute that a live premature baby was born to the 16-year-old at West Demerara Regional Hospital on March 30, 2017. There is no dispute that the baby lived until the next morning. The family’s story is that at all times the baby was treated as if still-born. The devil is in the details for sure and only the Ministry can provide the details. The longer the Ministry takes to become engaged, the worst the story gets. People are horrified and the Ministry pretends like nothing has happened.
In my post yesterday, I demanded an investigation by the Public Health Ministry, but I must note that such an investigation is automatic by law. The regulation under the Ministry of Health Act provides for an automatic investigation of all new-born and baby deaths with an initial institutional report to the Public Health Ministry within 24 hours. Is this procedural, quality-control and accountability system in place still?
Sincerely,
Dr Leslie Ramsammy
