The Health Sector’s Ailments Must Be Cured

A MAJOR ailment plaguing the country’s health sector is that equipment and infrastructure worth crores of taka often become non-functional shortly after installation, depriving the general public of the services they are entitled to.

This malady of mismanagement is nothing new; rather, it has persisted for years.

A newspaper report published yesterday revealed that the Intensive Care Units (ICUs) and RT-PCR laboratories established in government hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic are now lying neglected.

A total of 204 ICU units and 141 RT-PCR labs have been shut down.

Yet, had the capacity built during the COVID-19 pandemic been maintained, many people could have accessed life-saving services today.

Citing sources from the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), the report indicated that the doctors, nurses, and medical technologists recruited at the time were withdrawn after the project concluded.

Primarily due to a shortage of manpower, over 200 ICU beds across at least 25 government hospitals in the country are currently either completely non-functional or operating on a limited scale.

Experts state that these ICU facilities and PCR labs are not merely for tackling COVID-19; they are also crucial for detecting other infectious diseases, treating critically ill patients, and managing outbreaks of illnesses like measles and dengue.

It is only natural to ask: couldn’t this valuable equipment have been utilized to serve the public? So many people still scramble desperately for an ICU bed?

Meanwhile, diseases like measles have yet to be fully brought under control. The number of dengue cases is surging daily, and the death toll is rising as well.

This year, dengue infections are more prevalent outside Dhaka than within the capital.

Hospitals are admitting far more patients than their capacity allows, and healthcare services in these areas are on the verge of collapse.

The reality is that most hospitals outside the capital lack the necessary facilities for medical treatment or diagnostic tests.

In many places, hospitals exist but lack doctors; conversely, where doctors are available, essential medicines are missing.

Since assuming office, the current government has undertaken initiatives to reform the country’s health sector and has pledged to bring healthcare services to people’s doorsteps.

Meanwhile, the Prime Minister has stated that the government is working to recruit one lakh health workers, approximately 80 percent of whom will be women.

They will provide primary medical care, health-related advice, and necessary referral services at the grassroots level.

We believe that sustainable, long-term planning is essential to remedy the dilapidated state of the country’s health sector.

Sound and people-friendly plans must be formulated in consultation with experts.

Transparency and accountability are crucial to eliminating irregularities and mismanagement at the grassroots level.