In what can only be described as a parent’s worst nightmare, four infants have died in the District Headquarters Hospital in Vehari, a small town near Multan. Some reports suggest that there are more victims and the actual numbers are being hushed up by the hospital authorities. The reason behind this heartbreaking occurrence is sinister: malfunctioning ventilators, suspension of oxygen supply to the newborns and a hospital staff that was too negligent to know when the life was being snuffed out of these little lights. According to reports, the staff on duty the night these infants died was too busy on their mobile phones or was sleeping. When the oxygen ran out of their ventilators, the nurses and doctors just did not bother to check and, consequently, the babies breathed their last. If a newborn infant is assigned to a ventilator it can be presumed that it is either premature or underweight, a very delicate state to be in and deserving of much more care and attention. This is not just negligence, it is criminal negligence and can lead to charges of manslaughter if justice is done to the parents of the deceased little ones. An investigation must take place but we cannot rely solely on the police for it boasts notoriously compromised credentials. What is needed is a judicial probe to ensure that the hospital’s administration and staff is made to pay for this crime. Faulty ventilators should never be allowed in a hospital in the first place and unprofessional medical staff has no place anywhere near sick and fragile patients. Angry family members have gathered outside the hospital and are demanding retribution. They should not be denied. Vehari is a small town and the healthcare facilities in places like it cannot be compared to the facilities we have in big urban centres although they too may leave a lot to be desired. Hospitals in small towns and rural areas are usually hospitals in name only, with unqualified nurses and doctors hired to take care of the ill if they are hired at all and equipment that has no place in a healthcare facility. The deaths of these infants come as a shock that has pulled at the heartstrings and demands justice. It can be fairly presumed that many such instances occur because of a lack of proper facilities for the small town and rural population. We have only come to know of the Vehari incident because of media reportage. This is the actual job of the media: being the public’s watchdog and reporting on actual issues that affect the masses, taking to task the authorities to make things right. While the parents of these dead babies may never be at peace again, we must ensure this travesty is dealt with with a firm hand and revisit the shortcomings of our healthcare system. *