Four Major Hospitals Refuse to Admit Severely Burnt Child

Four hospitals in Punjab, including three from Lahore, declined to take in a two-year-old child suffering from 35% burns, leaving her to cry in agony on the city’s streets all night.

The father of the child, Aliza, took her to Lahore from Okara on Monday night after she fell into boiling water while playing.

Distressing video recordings of the girl emerged later, showing her screaming out in pain due to burns on her face, chest, and legs.

When her family brought her to the Okara District Headquarters (DHQ) Hospital, the doctors gave them an emergency slip stating that she has over 35 percent burns and referred her to Lahore.

The father protested that the travel between Okara and Lahore was about three hours and that taking his screaming daughter there would be extremely painful for her, requesting for her to be admitted to the DHQ for at least a few days. He revealed that they refused his requests.

He then rented a van to Lahore and took his daughter to the Mayo Hospital, where the doctors refused to treat her and called security on him for ‘arguing’ with the medics.

Subsequently, the young patient was refused treatment at the Children’s Hospital and the Jinnah hospital as well. The Jinnah hospital staff said that they don’t treat minors.

The helpless father was forced to take his daughter to a relative’s house, where she spent the night in agony.

He revealed that he was only able to get his child admitted to the Mayo hospital’s burn unit after contacting some ‘influential persons’ on Tuesday morning.

Chief Minister (CM) Punjab, Parvaiz Elahi, called for an investigation into the incident, saying that the refusal to treat the child was a violation of fundamental citizens’ rights and that the responsible parties will be dealt with strictly.

He announced free treatment for the child, saying that he has directed the Health Secretary to investigate the incident and submit a report.

Via: Dawn