Neonatal deaths increase to 15 in Tunisia

TUNIS, March 13 (Xinhua) -- The number of neonatal deaths in Tunisia increased to 15, Sofien Sliti, spokesman of Tunis Court of First Instance, confirmed in a statement Wednesday.

"The Tunisian public prosecutor's office has launched investigation to determine The causes of newborns death at The obstetrics and neonatology departments in The Rabta Hospital in Tunis," said Sliti.

"The investigating judge ordered a commission to carry out The necessary investigation to disclose The real causes," said Kamel Ben Messaoud, a member of a committee for The defense of families of newborns who died. Messaoud said those people, who were responsible for this, should be sentenced to imprisonment for life.

Tunisian Interim Minister of Health Sonia Ben Sheikh announced Monday that The death of The 15 newborns is due to a nosocomial infection that occurred during Their hospitalization.