Poor people struggling to bear dengue treatment costs

Reza Mahmud :
The poor people are struggling to bear the cost of the medical treatment of their family members’ attacked with dengue fever.
The lower income group of the people said when they faint with exhaustion to maintain families, the dengue infections have appeared with limitless afflictions.
“Two of my children infected with dengue fever at a time. Firstly I thought that it was ordinary fever but the doctors said that it was dengue,” said Abdul Khaleque, a day labour from Jurain area in the city.
Abdul Khaleque said that he was late to take the children to the hospital. As a result the platelets level of the blood deteriorated seriously. The children need to stay in the hospital for long and their treatment costs and related expenditures put huge burden to the family. The children were admitted to the National Medical Institute Hospital in Sadarghat area in the capital.
It is not a single case, but an example of numbers of families from the lower income group.
“When we have become tired of bearing cost of daily necessities as the commodity prices including rice and vegetable become high, the dengue is pushing us into deep crisis,” said Ariful Haque from Sutrapur area who also took his baby daughter to the hospital after infecting with the mosquito born disease.
Meanwhile, number of Police members also infected from the Aedes mosquito born disease.
As per the data of Rajarbagh police line hospital about 70, police personnel have been infected from dengue.
Of them, about 15 personnel have been kept to ICU.
Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) data showed that the dengue has been spread across the country, while the situation of Dhaka becomes worst as the infection of dengue increasing sharply in its different areas.
The DGHS said that two more deaths from dengue in the last 24 hours till Wednesday morning raised this year’s fatalities from the mosquito-borne disease in the country to 120. It also showed that 923 more patients were hospitalised during this period with the viral fever.
Two of the latest deaths were reported from Dhaka.
The Dengue death toll from Dhaka rose to 72. The dengue death toll remained unchanged at 36 in Chattogram, at five in Barishal, at four in Khulna and at three in Mymensingh division. Of the new patients, 520 were admitted to different hospitals in Dhaka and 403 outside it. A total of 3,380 dengue patients, including 2,207 in the capital, are now receiving treatment at hospitals across the country.
The DGHS recorded 33,923 dengue cases and 30,423 recoveries so far this year.
Health Minister Zahid Maleque on Wednesday said it is not the health sector’s task to kill mosquitoes.
 He said the government has increased healthcare facilities for dengue patients as the mosquito-borne disease is increasing sharply in the country.
He said it during a discussion meeting at Sheikh Russel National Gastroliver Institute and Hospital in the city’s Mohakhali. Public health experts asked the people to be aware and keep safe from the Aedes mosquito.
When contacted, Dr. Mukhlesuz Zaman Hero, former Deputy Director of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) Hospital told The New Nation, “Everyone should be aware from breeding hub of Aedes mosquito as the intermittent rains are causing clean water logging which is breeding hub of it.”
He suggested everyone to use mosquito nets even the day time while children stay home.