AIIMS under the dengue strain

New Delhi: Nahid Aftab has been diagnosed with dengue. She's undergoing treament at AIIMS for the past couple of days and even though she's not fit to be discharged, she has been asked by the hospital authorities to go home on Friday, all because there's no space in the hospital to accomodate her.

"We asked the hospital to give her a private room if need be, but they are not giving that either. They say there is no space," says Nahid's nephew, Humayun Shehzad.

Another dengue patient, Angoori Devi, who is in a serious condition and has come all the way from Palwal to AIIMS, isn't getting a bed, and her platelet count is decreasing. Her relatives are a worried lot.

Says Angoori's brother Sukhvir Singh, "We have come so far to get her treated and we are being turned down because they have no extra beds. Hers is an emergency case."

Relatives of patients are complaining of inadequate treatment.

Says another patient's relative, Rehmat Ali, "We asked for two bottles of blood but they could spare only one for us."

Dengue patients are pouring in every hour and the number of affected in Delhi is now more than 700 with 16 deaths.

The Delhi High Court has asked the Government the names of ten hospitals, which are equipped to handle dengue.

The court also enquired about the national coordination committee for dengue formed in 1998. It has asked for detailed accounts of how the allocated Rs 1,371 crore was utilised.

The hospitals have made makeshift arrangements but doctors admit that it is stretching their infrastructure.

Says a resident doctor at AIIMS, Dr Anil Sharma, "AIIMS is not meant for screening fever. It is a tertiary care hospital. The real sufferers are the people who need things like valve replacements, renal transplants or brain tumour operations."

Hospitals say that in case of an epidemic, they have a contingency plan in place, but with the number of dengue cases rising in the Capital and no epidemic being declared yet, there is no alternative as of now. All that's happening with an epidemic not being declared is that there is a strain on the existing medical services.