Govt plans 10 dialysis machines for each upazila

The government plans to provide 10 kidney dialysis machines to each upazila across the country within the next two years as part of an expansion of dialysis services, Health and Family Welfare Minister Sardar Md Sakhawat Husain said on Monday.

“There is a plan to provide 10 kidney dialysis machines to each upazila within the next two years. At the same time, the government has taken various initiatives to enhance the skills of doctors in the country,” he said.

The minister made the remarks while inaugurating the newly constructed Respiratory Critical Care and Interventional Pulmonology Centre at the National Institute of Diseases of the Chest and Hospital (NIDCH) in Mohakhali.

He said the government was giving the highest priority to the health sector, describing it as a key determinant of the government’s major achievements.

Sakhawat Husain said allocations were being increased for hospitals that receive large numbers of patients from different parts of the country.

The minister also highlighted the expansion of intensive care facilities at NIDCH, saying the hospital had expanded its intensive care services 21 years after it was inaugurated in 2005 by then Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia.

The newly established intensive care unit has added 40 beds to the hospital’s capacity, he said.
NIDCH Director Dr Golam Sarwar Liaquat Hossain Bhuiyan presided over the inauguration ceremony.

Bangladesh Medical University Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr FM Siddiqui, Directorate General of Health Services Director General Prof Dr Pravath Chandra Biswas, Doctors Association of Bangladesh (DAB) President Prof Dr Harun Al Rashid and DAB Secretary General Dr Md Zohirul Islam Shakil also attended the event.