Mothers' Care extends healing touch to destitute children
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, December 06 2024: Mothers' Care Children Hospital and Research Centre has saved many precious lives and given a healing touch to many children by reserving a bed in its Paediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) for treatment of underprivileged kids free of cost.

Lungnila Elizabeth PICU having 12 beds was opened at Mothers' Care Children Hospital and Research Centre, Sagolband Moirang Leirak on December 18, 2019 .

One of these beds is reserved for free treatment of kids belonging to underprivileged and economically most backward families.

So far, 42 children including 15 girls and 27 boys have been treated free of cost under the same scheme.

Out of them, 12 underwent surgical operations.

One Thoibi (name changed), mother of a kid who underwent treatment at Mothers' Care Children Hospital and Research Centre on the PICU bed reserved for treatment said that they had exhausted all their financial resources and they were preparing to take home the ailing kid when the hospital told them about the noble scheme.

"On learning about the noble scheme, we saw a ray of hope in the midst of complete despair", Thoibi who hails from Kakching district said.

"We did not know the problem of our four-month old baby for she was not properly diagnosed and she was crying all day fighting death but Lungnila Elizabeth PICU's free bed saved my baby", she said.

"Had there been no such scheme, we could have lost our precious baby forever", Thoibi continued.

She hailed the particular bed as a special bed which can defeat death and save ailing kids.

Thoibi said that she did not spend any money on the treatment of her baby on the particular bed.

Achifro (not real name), mother of another kid from Senapati district who underwent treatment on the same bed said that it was the particular bed of Lungnila Elizabeth PICU which saved her baby.

"I have not forgotten those gloomy moments when I had lost all hope with no money for treatment of my sick baby", Achifro said.

Saying that her baby underwent surgical operation twice while the baby was undergoing treatment in Lungnila Elizabeth PICU, Achifro said that she did not spend any money on the treatment of her baby except for buying medicines.

The particular bed is a saviour for poor and underprivileged kids, the mother said.

Mothers' Care Children Hospital and Research Centre chairman cum managing director Dr Kh Ratankumar said that he feels gratified on seeing sick children recovering and going back home from the hospital with relief from all pains and medical problems.

Doctors feel great pain when parents ask them to discharge their babies, not because the babies have recovered but because they have no money for treatment.

"Considering the fate of the sick children whose parents are compelled to take them home without proper treatment or before recovery due to abject poverty, we decided to dedicate one bed of Lungnila Elizabeth PICU to such poor and underprivileged children," Dr Ratankumar said.

The hospital then started providing free treatment to destitute children on the particular bed, he said.

Shocked and deeply hurt by how the Lungnila Elizabeth was nipped in the bud, the hospital's PICU bed was named after her with due approval of her family.

Lungnila Elizabeth's father Francis Ngajokpa and his family members were also present at the inauguration of the paediatric intensive care unit, Dr Ratankumar said.

No voluminous documents are needed to avail the free treatment facility on the dedicated bed.

The hospital extends the facility to sick children after studying the financial conditions of their families, the chairman cum managing director said.

One a child is admitted in PICU and given the dedicated bed, there will be no bed charge, no consultation fee and no testing charge if the tests are done inside the hospital.

The scheme was launched with a commitment to save the lives of children and relieve them of their pains, Dr Kh Ratankumar said.

Lungnila Elizabeth PICU has now 15 beds and the hospital has been working to increase the number of beds dedicated for free treatment of destitute children, he said.

There were cases of the hospital authority unable to provide the dedicated bed to a sick destitute child when the bed was already occupied, he added.

Notably, the Infant Mortality Rate (per 1000) in India in 2019 was 29.1, 28.1 in 2020, 28.77 in 2021, 27.69 in 2022, 26.62 in 2023 and 25.79 (projected) in 2024 .

Lungnila Elizabeth was kidnapped from the gate of Little Flower School who was then just 8 years old and reading in Class III on November 4, 2003 by some unidentified persons.

Even after paying a ransom of Rs 10 lakh as demanded by the kidnappers, the kid was found murdered at Tera Sadokpam on November 12, 2003 .

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