182 ventilators in U.P. public hosps defunct, officials assure repair at the earliest

When asked on the issue, Shruti Singh, director-general of medical health (DGME), Uttar Pradesh, said, “We have the budget for repair. The fund shall be used to get these ventilators repaired soon.”

LUCKNOW Of the 2,497 ventilators provided to the 33 Uttar Pradesh-based medical institutes/colleges under the Prime Minister Care Fund during the Covid pandemic, 182 are lying defunct. These machines are critical in the treatment of severely-ill patients.

These machines are critical in the treatment of severely-ill patients. (HT Photo)

When asked on the issue, Shruti Singh, director-general of medical health (DGME), Uttar Pradesh, said, “We have the budget for repair. The fund shall be used to get these ventilators repaired soon so that treatment is not affected. The list of ventilators in need of repair has been made and heads of institutions have been asked to get them fixed.”

Notably, 163 ventilators were provided to the state medical College in Prayagraj during the pandemic, 139 ventilators to SGPGI Lucknow, 134 to U.P. University of Medical Sciences, 126 to the state medical college in Kanpur, 100 each to the medical college in Gorakhpur, King George’s Medical University in Lucknow, and state medical college in Banda.

Out of the 33 institutes that were provided ventilators during the pandemic, six of them are dealing with the issue of defunct life-saving machines. The state medical college in Kanpur has a maximum of 60 defunct ventilators. Hospitals in Jhansi, Agra, Saharanpur, Azamgarh, and Etawah have also reported non-functional ventilators, according to the officials of the medical education department.

As the ventilators were provided to these medical facilities in a rush during the pandemic, an annual maintenance contract was not made then. However, these agreements are being worked upon now, said officials.