The committee was "disturbed" by the ministry's "unfortunate denial" of COVID-19 deaths caused by a lack of oxygen.
Digital Desk: A legislative committee has advised that the Union Health Ministry "examine deaths owing to oxygen scarcity," particularly during the Covid second wave, in collaboration with states, in order to ensure robust documentation of the fatalities. The committee was "disturbed" by the ministry's "unfortunate denial" of COVID-19 deaths caused by a lack of oxygen.
"The ministry must rigorously investigate the oxygen-deprived Covid deaths and guarantee that proper compensation is provided to the victims' families," the panel stated, adding that it anticipated more transparency and responsibility from government organisations.
In its 137th report, submitted to Rajya Sabha on Monday, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health stated that the surge in the number of Covid positive cases had put great strain on the health infrastructure.
It added there were multiple instances of patients' families appealing for oxygen and standing in lines for cylinders, as well as media stories about hospitals running out of life-saving gas and making urgent pleas when they were supposedly left with only a few hours' supply.
According to the committee, in its 123rd report, it cautioned the government about a possible shortage of oxygen cylinders and oxygen supplies in hospitals.
"The committee is disappointed to observe that the ministry assured that the country is self-sufficient in oxygen and oxygen cylinders in their 2020 proposal; however, their hollow claim was brutally revealed during the second wave," the panel noted in its 137th report.
"The government failed to manage even distribution of oxygen in states, and in the face of soaring demand, it was unable to maintain a consistent flow of oxygen, resulting in an unprecedented medical catastrophe," the panel stated.
It went on to say that inadequate logistic management and the government's failure to ensure a timely reaction from the hospital system speak loudly about the absolute turmoil in the government machinery, particularly during the second wave. Poor monitoring of oxygen generation capacity and the availability of medical oxygen, oxygenated, and ventilator beds in hospitals exacerbated the issue, according to the panel.
"The committee is perplexed that, in response to the Union government's request to states and Union Territories to provide details of Covid deaths due to a lack of oxygen, 20 states and Union Territories responded, and none of these has reported confirmed death due to an oxygen shortage," the committee said.
"The committee is worried by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare's terrible denial of Covid deaths owing to the country's oxygen shortage." It stated that it considers media allegations that many people died in hospitals owing to a lack of oxygen. However, the parliamentary panel claimed that the mere "negligence of fact" demonstrates a lack of empathy in government parlance.
The panel found that there were no specific rules for diagnosing deaths caused by a lack of oxygen. "Oxygen deficiency is not listed as a cause of death in the medical records, and the majority of the deaths were attributed to co-morbidities," the committee said, expressing regret at the government's "ignorance."
"The ministry, in collaboration with the states, must audit the deaths due to oxygen shortage and enable robust documentation of the Covid deaths," it said. "This will in fact generate a responsive and responsible sense of government, as well as cautious policy formulation and combat situational health care emergency."
The committee also suggested that cancer be designated as a notifiable disease in another report titled 'Cancer Care Plan and Management: Prevention, Diagnosis, Research, and Affordability of Cancer Treatment.'
"The committee notes that cancer is still not classed as a notifiable disease, resulting in under-reporting of cancer deaths, and the committee notes that ambiguity regarding the real cause of death is a key impediment in data collecting," the panel wrote in its report.
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