Nepal
A snakebite patient has reportedly died for want of timely treatment in Mahottari.
Yubaraj Shrestha, a resident of Mahottari, was bitten by a snake on Saturday night and died after the hospital failed to manage a ventilator for the patient, claimed the bereaved family.
Shrestha's family rushed him to a nearby snakebite treatment centre at Gauridanda in Bardibas-3 shortly after the snake bit him. However, lack of ventilator at the centre lead to the incident, stated the family.
After the centre's technician told that Shrestha required ventilator support, they took him to Janakpur, but to no avail. Doctors at the Provincial Hospital in Janakpur declared him dead.
"There had been hopes that Shrestha could survive snakebite if the centre had a ventilator. But to our dismay, we could not manage a ventilator for him," said Krishna Devkota, chairperson of the board of directors at the snakebite treatment centre.
Repeated calls to Bardibas Municipality and the line ministry to manage a ventilator for the centre had yet to be heard, he said.
"It requires a ventilator for a serious snakebite patient. So, without a ventilator at the centre, we transfer snakebite patients elsewhere."
Shrestha was bitten by a cobra in his neck while sleeping without a mosquito net. Shrestha, originally from Sindhuli district was running a private school at Bardibas-4.
Snakebite cases have risen in the Terai region, especially during monsoon.
Two persons died from snakebite at Bardibas in Mahottari district in past three weeks, according to data.
Meanwhile, representatives from the civil society have drawn the attention of lawmaker Giriraj Mani Pokharel towards the management of the ventilator facility at Bardibas.
- RSS
