Dialysis fee hike at CMCH: Police sue protesting kidney patients, arrest one

UNB, Chattogram :

A case has been filed against some kidney patients and their relatives who have been protesting the recent hike in dialysis fee at Chattogram Medical College and Hospital.

Mostafizur Rahman, sub-inspector (SI) of Panchlaish police station, registered the case against Md Mostakim, a patient and 50 to 60 unidentified others around 12:30 am Wednesday.

Inspector Sadekur Rahman of Panchlaish police station said the case was filed against the patients on charges of assaulting police and obstructing their work.

Five policemen were injured while trying to remove the protesters from road, he said.

On Tuesday, police detained Mostakim from the CMCH during the patients’ demonstrations blocking road and obstructing vehicular movement, said Md Nazim Uddin Majumder, officer-in-charge (OC) of Panchlaish Police Station.

The kidney patients and their relatives have been staging demonstrations in front of the dialysis centre of the hospital for the last four days protesting the hike in dialysis fee.

The protesters said a patient needs dialysis eight times in a month and they have to pay Tk 2,795 first two times and Tk 510 for each of the rest.

Now the hospital authorities raised the fee to Tk 2935 and the patients have to pay it four times and Tk 535 for each of the rest dialysis in a month, they said.

Kidney Dialysis Centre was launched at the hospital under the public-private partnership project in 2017 and it is now operating with 32 dialysis machines.

According to the agreement with the Ministry of Health, Indian company Sandor will continue its operations at this center for ten years. The institution will use government space for this. A patient has to pay about Tk 3000 against kidney dialysis each time.