Patients, relatives protest at CMCH Experts for more govt subsidies: Dialysis fees go up in public hospitals

Reza Mahmud :
Kidney dialysis fees have been increased in hospitals to the utmost disappointment and anger of the patients.
Sources said, many public hospitals where third parties are involved in kidney dialysis procedures, have increased the fees. Besides, private hospitals also hiked the dialysis fees.
The experts have therefore asked the government to increase subsidies for the sake of saving the lives of thousands of kidney patients, as it is a matter of continuous high cost treatment.
In the wake of the increasing dialysis fees, patients and people in general have demonstrated in front of Chattogram Medical College Hospital on Tuesday demanding review of the decision.
The demonstrators said, the kidney dialysis fees have been increased without any reason. This means that they have to bear almost twice the cost of dialysis every month. Currently a patient has to undergo kidney dialysis eight times per month. For this, two thousand 795 taka had to be paid in advance for the first two times of the month. Tk 510 had to be paid for the next six times. But from the beginning of the new year-2023, instead of two thousand 795 taka, patients are to pay two thousand 935 taka. The fee is now fixed four times to pay Tk two thousand 935 instead of the first two times. Besides, the next two times the fee has to be paid Tk 535 instead of Tk 510 for the remaining four times. This has almost doubled the dialysis fee per patient per month. Where previously eight thousand 650 taka was spent per month, under the new rule 13 thousand 880 taka to be spent.
Earlier on Sunday, those patients also protested the matter in the hospital, but got no result, they said.
Sources said, a large number of kidney patients in the country are becoming poor day by day for paying huge costs of dialysis.
Every patient has to bear about Tk 30,000 to 40,000 per month for dialysis and related other costs.
When contacted, Professor Dr. M. Muzaherul Huq, former Adviser of the World Health Organisation (WHO) told The New Nation on Tuesday, “The number of kidney failure patients are increasing and many of them need dialysis. The dialysis centers are mostly in Dhaka and in big cities. This is an expensive management of kidney failure patients and is not quite affordable by common people.”
The Professor said, “In normal situation a patient in Bangladesh have to spent 65pc of their health expenditure from their own pocket which is one of the highest in the world. The effect is poor patient become poorer. Dialysis is expensive for common people. The expensive management makes patients poorer. All district hospital must have dialysis facilities as well as trained manpower with dialysis fluid available.”
Contacted, Gonosashthaya Kendro Trustee and Freedom Fighter Dr. Zafrullah Chowdhury told The New Nation, “Average people of the country are unable to bear kidney dialysis costs. Many of the patients are being bankrupt and stopped dialysis after failing to bear its costs.”
He said, “We charge very cheap costs in Gonosashthaya Nogor Hospital. Instead of that, many of the patients fail to pay and cry for more considerations. Such wailing of the patients is unbearable. Government should give more subsidies in this regards.”
Sources said, about three crore kidney patients are in the country and 1.30 crore of them get dialysis regularly.