Health minister warns against illegal health facilities
Staff Reporter :
The government has directed to close all unregistered hospitals, diagnostic centres and clinics across the country immediately.
“Unauthorised medical facilities must voluntarily cease operations or face severe consequences from the health ministry,” Health minister Samanta Lal Sen said while addressing the media at the Secretariat in the capital on Tuesday.
The minister emphasised the urgency of this action, citing both the need for medical safety and the recent surge in Covid-19 cases.
“I myself have been a victim of an unlicensed hospital. Therefore, I will not tolerate such negligence,” the health minister said.
This directive aligns with his previously declared position on corruption and malpractice in the healthcare sector. The health minister has focused on the heart-wrenching case of child Ayan’s death.
Highlighting the severity of consequences, he said, “The incident of Ayan’s death is deeply tragic.
We are awaiting the investigating committee’s report, appropriate actions must be taken.”
Earlier on the day, Ayan’s father, Shamim Ahmed, accompanied by family members, met the health minister at the secretariat. They presented a detailed account of the events leading to Ayan’s unnatural death, alongside a call for a thorough and fair investigation into his death.
There are about 12,000 unregistered hospitals, clinics and diagnostic centers across the country. Several hundred of those have been applied for registration while most of those are in operation without any registration.
Meanwhile, Ahmedul Kabir, Director General of the Directorate General of Health Services, assured that the crackdown on unregistered entities will take place immediately.
“It is surely mandatory for all, including United Health Service, to be duly licensed.
We have a considerable number of registered facilities, but being large-scale doesn’t exempt anyone from having registration,” Ahmedul Kabir said.
Apart from these, the health minister expressed his deep concern in the wake of identifying new Covid-19 variants and increasing infections in countries including India.
