Concerned over the death of 14 children from diphtheria in a span of 12 days at a municipal hospital in north-west Delhi, the DCW has asked the hospital to provide details of the urgent steps taken by it to ensure no more deaths occur due to the disease. 

The death toll of children from diphtheria at Maharshi Valmiki Infectious Diseases Hospital in north-west Delhi has risen to 18. The area's mayor has set up a panel to look into it, officials said on September 23. Taking cognisance of the issue, Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) chief Swati Maliwal issued a notice to the medical superintendent of the hospital.

In the notice, she said it has been reported that children died because of unavailability of anti-diphtheria vaccine despite the hospital being a specialist centre for the disease. It is also reported that the patients are being forced to purchase injections from outside. She asked the hospital to give reasons for the recent deaths at the hospital. 

Maliwal also asked for details of the urgent steps taken by the hospital to ensure that no more deaths occur due to diphtheria. "Further the media reports are revealing shocking details of lack of staff, operation theatres and ICU. It has been reported that the hospital is unable to conduct even a simple process like tracheotomy due to which two children died," she said in a statement. The DCW has demanded an increase in the number of staff and beds allotted for treating the patients with the disease.