Govt must equip hospitals with emergency drugs for treatment of cold-hit people

Hospitals in capital Dhaka reported a rapid surge in the number of patients with cold-related diseases, a situation not reflected at all in the official account of winter illnesses prepared by the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS). Bangladesh Shishu Hospital and Institute reported that 16 children with cold conditions, on average, were admitted to the hospital while 70 others were taking outpatient services at the 650-bed hospital daily.
Besides, the 2,600-bed Dhaka Medical College and Hospital (DMCH) reported a 20 per cent rise in the daily number of patients with cold conditions as the hospital has been struggling to accommodate additional patients over the past few days. The DMCH has already run out of beds for patients now spilling onto corridors. However, the DGHS winter illness report does not say anything about this situation.
The DGHS’s Health Emergency Operation Centre and Control Room data show that 3,173 patients were admitted to hospitals across the country on January 5, but none was shown in Dhaka. Shishu Hospital officials said that on the day it admitted 15 patients suffering from cold-related diseases and provided outpatient services to 64 such patients. In the first five days of January, the hospital admitted 73 children with cold conditions, including pneumonia, viral fever, breathing difficulties and diarrhoea.
More than 3,500 patients were currently admitted to the 2,600-bed DMCH. Most of the cold-related patients visiting the hospital or being admitted to it were children and senior citizens. Shishu Hospital’s epidemiology and research department said that a significant number of the patients visiting doctors were with pneumonia while many others were with diarrhoea and viral fever. In December last year, 433 patients with cold-induced diseases were admitted to the hospital, which was about 25 per cent higher than in November. DMCH and Shishu Hospital officials confirmed deaths from cold conditions but declined to disclose the numbers.
We are asking the DGHS and the health ministry to equip the upazila and district-level hospitals and clinics with life-saving drugs and equipment across the country to provide emergency health support to children and elderly people.