Media 'knight' breathes life into paediatric ICUs.

From April to July this year, a review of Bara’s paediatric surgical department showed that the ‘luckier’ malnourished babies referred there from outside hospitals had an average waiting time of 11.5 days from diagnosis to securing an operation (mainly for an obstructed gastrointestinal tract). Many others who presented with acute problems like gastroschisis simply died because of insufficient ICU beds. Lack of diagnostic expertise in more rural hospitals and clinics contributed to the death toll.