950 Maternal Deaths, Medical Negligence Under UDF Rule: Health Minister Veena George in Assembly

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Health Minister Veena George presented shocking statistics, including instances of medical negligence, that occurred in Kerala during the UDF tenure, in the Legislative Assembly. She said that 950 mothers died during childbirth under the UDF government. In another incident, five people lost their eyesight following cataract surgeries. Nearly half of the nurse posts remained vacant during that period. Veena George recalled what she described as the misgovernance of the UDF era by citing replies given in the Assembly by health ministers prior to 2016. She was responding to a discussion on an adjournment motion in the Assembly.

The discussion in the House, she said, helped remind people of how the health sector in Kerala had collapsed and deteriorated before 2016. In the constituency of the UDF member who moved the adjournment motion, a new hospital block was constructed at a cost of 76 crore rupees through KIIFB funds. Today, two patients, Lakshmikuty (74) and Muraleedharan Nair (70), are receiving free dialysis treatment there. This, the minister said, reflects the policy of the LDF government.

During the UDF rule, dialysis facilities were available in only 12 government hospitals. Today, such facilities exist in 125 hospitals. She added that around 3,000 patients receive free dialysis every day in government hospitals.