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AFTER inauguration of class-1 Apollo Hospital in Dhaka last week, we have come to know from the press that there are many private clinics and hospitals which lack adequate technical facilities. The newspapers also reported that there is an acute shortage of x-ray films -- a basic diagnostic tool, in most of the government hospitals. Some hospitals do not have operation theatres.
These are all strange phenomena. Due to lack of basic facilities, seriously ill and injured patients are not treated in government hospitals and are turned away. It is also believed that some unscrupulous employees of the government hospitals are resisting any effort to modernise and improve facilities. These employees, allegedly, turn away serious patients from these hospitals and send them to private clinics getting commissions in return.
I myself have seen microbuses of private clinics and hospitals line up everyday near the emergency of Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH). I asked one of them who said if patients are returned they catch them and take them to their clinics. It is understood that there is a nexus between DMCH employees and these clinics. This reflects what is happening in the other government hospitals. The conditions in government hospitals outside Dhaka are reportedly more serious.
Medical care is one of the basic rights of the citizens. Over the years the standard of medical care in this country has stooped to such a dismal low that many people have simply given up on the local hospitals. Those who can afford it visit foreign countries for treatment or go to the highly expensive private clinics. But many people are forced to rely on the pathetic health facilities in the country and bear the consequences.
Aleem Moin
Mirpur,
Dhaka
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