State Assures Policy for Rare Disorder After Protest by Parents

A protest by parents outside Mantralaya, the state secretariat, forced health minister Prakash Abitkar out of the seven-storey building, before he escorted them inside to confront a life-or-death issue – a treatment protocol that could potentially save their children's lives.

- Faisal Malik

MUMBAI:

The parents on Tuesday told the minister that hospitals were neglecting children afflicted with Subacute Sclerosing Panencephalitis (SSPE), a rare, progressive and usually fatal brain disorder caused by a defective measles virus. They wanted the government to establish a treatment protocol for their children as hospitals are currently refusing to attend to these children as there is no known cure for the condition. The parents had brought 25 patients with them, to make an impression on the minister.