Bhopal Gas Tragedy

Sub: Response to the article "Some lessons from the Bhopal Outcome" at page 11 of The
Hindu-Delhi edition dated 14/06/2010 (the "Article").

Dear Sir,

I am the Secretary of Bhopal Memorial Hospital Trust ("BMHT").

I have carefully perused this article. However, I am afraid that in the third paragraph of the article, in particular, the sentences "(a) huge hospital financed by Union Carbide was built in Bhopal. But it is not for the poor but the rich. It is over the bodies of the poor that the hospital building was built, and still the have-nots have no access to it" do not accurately reflect the state of affairs about the workings of the hospital, which was set up by BMHT for the treatment of gas victim patients.

These facts must be corrected and I would like to put the facts in the accurate and right
perspective for all concerned.

After the formation of BMHT in 1998, it setup a 350 bed super-specialty hospital, the Bhopal
Memorial Hospital and Research Centre (“BMHRC” or the “Hospital”) along with 8 Mini Units at various gas affected wards in Bhopal. The Hospital and the Mini Units were set up primarily for the diagnosis and treatment of gas victims. Those requiring specialized treatment are admitted in the Hospital.

Out of a total of 5.75 lakhs gas victims, 3.70 lakhs have been registered with BMHRC.Since inception, there have been 40 lakhs visits of gas victim’s patients which have been recorded in Mini Units and these gas victim patients have been provided treatment. At BMHRC,about 8 lakhs OPD patients- visits have been recorded. It is also informed that 54,000 patients have been admitted in the hospital wards for specialized treatment.

Further, contrary to the assertions in the article, at the Mini Units, 100% patients are gas victims and at the Hospital, approximately 80% of the patients are gas victims.

The Chairman and Trustees of BMHT are conscious of their responsibility and are committed to provide quality treatment to the gas victims at the Mini Units and at the Hospital. There is no question of any compromise in the admission and treatment of gas victims both at the Mini Units and the Hospital.

Please also note that the occupancy of beds in the Hospital is, on an average, 60% per year. Therefore, it would be waste of infrastructure of the Hospital, if a small number of private patients are not admitted for specialized treatment, where, beds are vacant. This is specially so because of the shortage of specialized medical facilities in the State of Madhya Pradesh.

In fact, the Central Government has also subscribed to this view and has no objection to using the spare infrastructure at the Hospital for the treatment of private patients.

Please further note that the revenue generated from private patients is ploughed back into the Hospital for treatment of gas victim patients.

In the light of foregoing, the assertions highlighted above are without any basis and
are not correct.

Our address and telephone numbers are as follows.
Bhopal Memorial Hospital Trust
E- 16- Second Floor,
Saket ,New Delhi 110017