Doctors rush to Indian town where children have been dying

India’s health ministry is rushing a team of pediatricians and other medical experts to a western Indian town where more than 100 children have reportedly died in a government-run hospital in the past month

The Press Trust of India news agency cited some health ministry officials as saying that more than 70% of key equipment like infusion pumps, warmers and nebulizers for newborns were not in working condition at the hospital. There was also a shortage of doctors and supporting staff in the pediatrics department.

High fatality rates among children in some of India’s poorest regions have revealed cracks in the country’s health care system.

Poor parents in remote villages travel 100 kilometers (60 miles) or more to reach a well-equipped government hospital, with a large number of sick children dying on the way.