Bhopal Gas victim groups allege BMHRC curtailing key services at mini units, write to ICMR

Bhopal: Four organisations working with survivors of the 1984 Bhopal Gas tragedy on Thursday alleged that the Bhopal Memorial Hospital and Research Centre (BMHRC) has discontinued pathology services at all its eight mini units and is now moving to shut down X-ray facilities, affecting access to healthcare for gas victims.

The organisations alleged that pathology laboratories at the mini units have been closed, with equipment and staff shifted to the main BMHRC hospital.

They claimed the move has delayed diagnostic reports, while patients are being turned away on days when the lone nurse posted at a mini unit is unavailable to collect blood samples.

The organisation also alleged that Mini Units 1, 3, 5 and 8 have stopped receiving X-ray films, forcing patients to travel to the main BMHRC hospital for investigations.

According to the organisations, no written order has been issued for discontinuing the services.

“The mini units were established to provide healthcare close to the neighbourhoods where gas victims live. Instead of strengthening them, the management is systematically dismantling essential services,” Rachna Dhingra of the Bhopal Group for Information and Action (BGIA) said.

The organisations have written to the Union Health Ministry, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), the BMHRC Director Manisha Shrivastava and the Supreme Court-appointed Monitoring Committee, seeking immediate restoration of pathology and X-ray services.

The organisations wrote to the ICMR on August 5, seeking its immediate intervention and alleging that BMHRC had unilaterally shut pathology services at all eight mini units and was moving to discontinue X-ray services, affecting access to healthcare for gas victims.

According to the letter, which is available with IANS, tests such as fasting and post-prandial blood sugar, which were earlier reported on the same day, are now taking up to 48 hours after the pathology laboratories were shifted to the main hospital.

It also alleged that patients are being turned away when no nurse is available at a mini unit and questioned the absence of written orders and records for patients being orally referred to the main hospital for X-rays.

“The management appears to be prioritising procurement of new equipment over uninterrupted patient care. Suspending functional services without ensuring alternatives defeats the very purpose for which the mini units were established,” Dhingra said.

She added that BGIA would raise the issue before the Supreme Court during the hearing of its contempt petition scheduled for August 11, alleging that the curtailment of services violated the apex court’s directions on providing free and appropriate healthcare to Bhopal gas tragedy survivors.

IANS