Paediatric Heath Facilities
Soumitra Karmakar Chakraborty vs. The State of West Bengal & Ors W.P.A. (P) No. 164 of 2021 | High Court at Calcutta | Status: Pending | |
That alarmingly, it has been seen that an increased number of COVID
cases have been reported amongst children, especially infants during
the second wave of COVID-19. The strain is especially vicious to the
large number of immunocompromised children with deficiencies in the
nation and the State, who are currently in the lurch owing to a severely
inadequate and under-equipped health infrastructure in the State for the
treatment of children.
In several instances, children are being treated alongside adults which is
not advisable inasmuch as children require treatment and care different
from that of the adults. The situation is made more dire as the current
COVID vaccines cannot be used on children except for a few that have
only been authorised for use in the age group of 12 and above.
That urgency of the petition is submitted before this Hon’ble Court in
seeking directions to the respondents for ensuring adequate treatment
facilities for children are available to children affected by COVID-19
across the government as well as the private hospitals, with regulated
prices, in the State of West Bengal to safeguard the Right to Health of
children under Article 21 of the Constitution of India, 1950. Accordingly,
every Subdivision must reserve COVID beds for children, critical care
units like SNCUs (Special New Born Care Units), NICUs (Neonatal
Intensive Care Units), PICUs ( Paediatric Intensive Care Unit ) for
treatment. The scarcity of drugs for the treatment of children must also
be addressed.
Furthermore, urgent intervention is needed to make the “Guideline for
Paediatric Management” protocol on home and hospital treatment of
children with COVID-19 by the Government of West Bengal as well as
the “Protocol for Management of Covid - 19 in the Paediatric Age Group”
of the Central Government accessible to the lowest common denominator as also the medical healthcare providers.
cases have been reported amongst children, especially infants during
the second wave of COVID-19. The strain is especially vicious to the
large number of immunocompromised children with deficiencies in the
nation and the State, who are currently in the lurch owing to a severely
inadequate and under-equipped health infrastructure in the State for the
treatment of children.
In several instances, children are being treated alongside adults which is
not advisable inasmuch as children require treatment and care different
from that of the adults. The situation is made more dire as the current
COVID vaccines cannot be used on children except for a few that have
only been authorised for use in the age group of 12 and above.
That urgency of the petition is submitted before this Hon’ble Court in
seeking directions to the respondents for ensuring adequate treatment
facilities for children are available to children affected by COVID-19
across the government as well as the private hospitals, with regulated
prices, in the State of West Bengal to safeguard the Right to Health of
children under Article 21 of the Constitution of India, 1950. Accordingly,
every Subdivision must reserve COVID beds for children, critical care
units like SNCUs (Special New Born Care Units), NICUs (Neonatal
Intensive Care Units), PICUs ( Paediatric Intensive Care Unit ) for
treatment. The scarcity of drugs for the treatment of children must also
be addressed.
Furthermore, urgent intervention is needed to make the “Guideline for
Paediatric Management” protocol on home and hospital treatment of
children with COVID-19 by the Government of West Bengal as well as
the “Protocol for Management of Covid - 19 in the Paediatric Age Group”
of the Central Government accessible to the lowest common denominator as also the medical healthcare providers.