Seeking accountability

Gorakhpur shows political will necessary to reform health care

Reports that almost 30 children had died in 48 hours, and over 60 in five days, in Baba Raghav Das (BRD) Medical College in the eastern Uttar Pradesh town of Gorakhpur have naturally touched off something of an uproar. It is true that the area is subject to seasonal upsurges of Japanese encephalitis, a mysterious disease that is spread by a mosquito-borne virus, which has tragically afflicted children for decades. But on this occasion, the ravages of the disease appear to have been clearly compounded by administrative errors — oxygen in the hospital had run out, reportedly because the hospital