Imphal, September 28: In Tamenglong, without a doubt the most backward and neglected district in God forsaken Manipur, conceiving a child is fast turning out to be a curse for the number of poor villagers if the health facilities available at the so called Dist Hospital is any indication.

Even as The Sangai Express carried the news of the State Govt forwarding a proposal to the Centre to take up Urban Health Project in four districts of the State, came the news that a child died during delivery at Tamenglong district hospital for want of proper medical facilities.

A young pregnant woman was brought to the district hospital yesterday at about 6.30 pm for a delivery case.

Doctors present at the hospital detected some complications and made it clear that the child can be delivered safely only through Caesarean section and thus advised her to go to Imphal and get herself admitted either at the JN hospital or RIMS.

Not surprisingly the doctors there advised her to go to Imphal as the hospital just does not have any equipment to carry out a CS operation.

This is on top of the fact that there is no gynaecologist or an anaesthetist.

The woman, a poor villager by any calculation, just did not have the means to raise Rs 5000 or so needed to go to Imphal and it was left to some of the doctors at the district hospital to do their best! The mother was saved, but there was nothing that the doctors could do to save her child.

This is not the first time that Govt negligence has led to such a tragedy at this district.

The hospital does not even have any X-ray facility and patients have to come to Imphal to avail this facility.

The X-ray room has been turned into a dumping room! Another patient with suspected Hepatitis had to be taken to Imphal as the hospital did not have the necessary chemicals to conduct the test! SP of the district, Chawnghnuna accompanied this reporter to the trip to the hospital.

The woman, whose child died, is identifed as Kanpatlu (22).

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