Islamabad: After the death of 14 newborns in a fire at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS), the government has accelerated the investigation into the incident and the process of determining those responsible. Health Minister Mustafa Kamal made it clear in the Senate that no one will be spared if negligence is proven.
Mustafa Kamal, while addressing the Senate on Friday, said that the PIMS tragedy should not end as a news story for a few days. According to him, the government must learn lessons from the incident and take practical steps to prevent such incidents.
The Health Minister also presented himself for accountability and said that if his responsibility is revealed in the investigation, he will be held accountable. He stressed the need for fundamental reforms in the entire health system.
The minister said that the investigation should not be limited to the immediate cause of the fire. It should also examine the hospital’s fire safety system, emergency response capabilities, staff response and the procedure for moving newborns to a safe place.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had formed a high-level committee on August 26 to investigate the incident. Retired Federal Secretary Shahid Khan was appointed as the head of the committee. The committee has been tasked with examining the cause of the fire, sequence of events, rescue operations, fire safety arrangements and possible negligence.
Officially, the committee has been given a target of submitting an interim report for immediate action within 48 hours and a full investigation report within five days.
Meanwhile, the government has also announced financial assistance for the families affected by the tragedy. According to Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Tariq Fazal Chaudhry, each affected family will be given Rs 5 million. He said that financial assistance cannot replace the lives of children, but an attempt is being made to provide some support to the families in this difficult time.
The National Assembly has also expressed concern over the incident and called for an impartial investigation and legal action against those responsible. There has been a demand at the parliamentary level to improve fire safety, emergency preparedness and security arrangements in hospitals, especially in children’s wards.
The fire at PIMS broke out in the neonatal ward on August 26. 14 children lost their lives in the incident. After this tragedy, questions have been raised about the safety arrangements of hospitals across the country, and citizens have demanded that those responsible be identified and such incidents prevented in the future.
Mustafa Kamal said in the Senate that the real aim should not be just to punish an individual but to create a system in which safety flaws in hospitals are identified in a timely manner and the lives of patients, especially newborns, are safe.
The real test for the government now is to implement the investigation report and bring about practical changes in the safety system of hospitals. The PIMS incident also raises the question of how effective the fire safety and emergency evacuation arrangements are in other government hospitals in the country.
