By Bizodisha Bureau, Bhubaneswar, September 16, 2017: Odisha government had no review meeting conducted to identify cause of neonatal deaths in the government medical colleges and hospitals in the last three years, according to the report of Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) tabled in the Odisha Legislative Assembly on Saturday.

Though the neonatal mortality rate (37 per thousand) of the state was the highest in the country, the government medical colleges and hospitals (GMCH) had not conducted any death review to identify the causes of death during 2013-16, the report said.

There were 16,651 deaths of neonatal and paediatric patients in the test-checked government medical colleges and hospitals and district headquarter hospitals during 2013-16, the report added.

The report said that the state government did not ensure the sitting of the committee at regular intervals.

During 2013-16, 427 neonates out of 27,804 babies born in sampled hospitals, succumbed to infectious diseases like sepsis and pneumonia. Overcrowding of wards, unlimited entry of attendants and inadequate training to health personnel were the causes of infectious diseases, the report mentioned.