India, April 23 -- 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.

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 on these children as there is no known cure for the condition. The parents had brought 25 patie...