At least five infants died today in an hospital in northwest Pakistan's Sindh province due to lack of oxygen supply, prompting the provincial health authorities to launch a probe into the tragedy.
A senior doctor at the children's ward of Chadka Medical College hospital said the casualties included four new born babies and a two-year-old boy.
"The tragedy happened because the hospital had run out of Oxygen this week," the doctor said.
The Medical Superintendent of the hospital said that although a budget had been allocated for the hospital by the provincial health ministry but it was still not passed formally by the government.
"We have run out of Oxygen and this deaths took place," he said.
The Supreme Court had taken suo motu notice of the infant deaths while Health minister Sagheer Ahmed said an inquiry would be held into the infants death in the Chadka Hospital.
Last month, a number of infant deaths were reported in Sargodha's District Headquarters Teaching Hospital because of insufficient medical facilities, lack of oxygen supplies, incubators and alleged negligence of doctors.
In a country where rate of mortality for infants remains high, Pakistan's health budget in the current fiscal year is rupees 26.8 billion just slightly more than last year's rupees 25 billion while in Sindh, government has allocated rupees 43.58 billion for health.
