Ayan was suffering from childhood asthma, says DGHS report

The Directorate General of Health Services has submitted the report over the death of Ayan Ahmed, the five-year-old boy who died during a circumcision procedure at United Medical College Hospital, with the High Court.

DGHS Deputy Director (Law) Parimal Kumar Pal submitted the report to the bench of Justice Mustafa Zaman Islam and Justice MD Atabullah on behalf of the director general on Sunday.

According to the report, Ayan was suffering from childhood asthma.

The investigation report further said: “He sometimes need nebulisers and inhalers for his breathing problems. He was given a nebuliser and inhaler in the waiting room before the circumcision operation. Doctors were not informed about the matter.”

“Ayan’s bleeding during the operation is believed to have been normal,”it added.

The report, however, did not identify a specific cause of death or hold any particular person liable for the child’s death. Instead, it presented four recommendations to avoid such deaths in the future.

The four recommendations offered by the DGHS are:

• Doctors should appoint more than one anaesthesiologist

• Patients and their relatives must be properly informed about the risks of anaesthesia and operations

• ICU facilities must be available at hospitals

• Hospitals can only begin operations after approval from the government