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India: 30 Children die in Hospital due to Government Negligence

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Bangladesh: Child Sex Workers

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[A grieving relative of a child who died in the hospital]

A total of THIRTY children died in a state-run hospital in Calcutta over a period of 3 days in the first week of September this year. Doctors in the hospital and the state health minister dismissed this unusually high number of deaths as ‘routine’ refusing to take any responsibility for the deaths. An inquiry into the incident found that extreme overcrowding, understaffing and lack of medical equipment such as gas cylinders were responsible for the death of 30 children. The state government has now admitted that there was ‘some lapse’ on the part of the government and the described the deaths as ‘unfortunate’.

For poor families who cannot afford the high prices of private hospitals, state-run hospitals are the only source of medical treatment. Parents accuse the government of not providing adequate medical infrastructure in spite of being aware of the poor health and unhygienic conditions in state run hospitals. In spite of media attention on the recent incident, little has changed in the hospital and little has changed in the lives of poor families who continue to go to the hospital.

However, this is not an isolated incident of deaths in state run hospitals in India. In 2001, 11 children allegedly died in a state run hospital in Uttar Pradesh due to a lack of oxygen cylinders. Such negligence and lack of basic amenities in India’s state run hospitals have caused the lives of many children.

Featured Article

Bangladesh's Child Sex Workers: NO PLACE TO GO

[A child of a sex workers in a Jessore Brothel, Bangladesh]

An estimated 13,000 children in Bangladesh are prey to the commercial sex industry of the country. More than 20,000 children are born and live in the 18 registered red-light areas of Bangladesh. Children born here live everyday life watching their mothers being exploited and ultimately resigning themselves to the same exploitation. Small children help their mothers in household chores and bring refreshments for their mother's clients. Boys tend to become pimps once they grow up and girls continue in their mothers’ profession. Most girls enter the profession before the age of 12.

‘"When I approached a nearby primary school, everybody had a different look at me. As if I am unwanted there," Ayesha said’ (Bangladesh Web). Ayesha is among many young girls who start with enthusiasm to make a change but eventually give up this struggle. Societal indifference and apathy towards children of sex workers is one of the primary reasons for growing numbers of child sex workers.

The Government of Bangladesh is a signatory of the UN Convention on Rights of the Child and the ILO Convention 182 on Elimination of Worst Forms of Child Labour. The government’s main approach has also been towards victimizing women and children in prostitution and closing down these operations. This coupled with corruption within the government and law enforcement system have resulted in the government’s failure to combat child prostitution. National and local NGOs working in the field have accused the government of not having a national plan to combat child prostitution and largely deemed it’s initiatives so far as unsuccessful.

You can make a difference by voicing your opinion against the government’s slack in effectively fighting against the growing numbers of child sex workers.

What you can do