Physicians in the country are pressing home their demand for a separate healthcare facility amid rising infections among frontline health workers.
The demand for separate healthcare facility is getting louder following a rise in infections among the doctors especially those working at Incentive Care Unit (ICU) while providing treatment to Covid-19 patients, some physicians told the FE.
Bangladesh Doctors' Foundation (BDF) chairman Dr Shahed Rafi Pavel said, "We are demanding setting up of the facility as three physicians, on average, die everyday with dozens of infections."
"We need such support in order to build up our strength of mind. Itcanhelp us get treatment and get back to work shortly."
Health workers are facing problem in getting treatment, he said, adding that a good number of their fellow health workers faced such problem hindering health services seriously.
Health workers claim that law enforcers, politicians, eminent persons are getting privilege at special and dedicated hospitals but they are deprived of treatment at their hospitals.
Senior physicians are more exposed to the virus infection and falling victim to coronavirus, Dr Pavel said, adding that they need special care because of their age and health condition.
"Death of senior ICU specialists is an ominous sign for our healthcare system as there are only a handful of experts in the country."
"If the they die and get infected in such a way, the whole country will suffer," he added.
Mirza Nazim Uddin, Head of ICU Department, Square Hospital, Mohammad Sajjad Hossain of BRB Hospital and Zillur Rahman of Impulse Hospital died of coronavirus while Mozaffar Hossain, head of Department of Anaesthesia and Critical Care Medicine at Dhaka Medical College Hospital, was undergoing treatment.
Secretary General of Bangladesh Medical Association (BMA) Dr. Md. Ehteshamul Huq Choudhury told the FE that respective workstations (hospitals) of physicians are the best place for their treatment.
"As far as I know no physician has been deprived of healthcare facility after being infected. We are in talks with the health ministry for setting up a hospital dedicated for physicians," he added.
Doctors association, however, demanded that the authority declare Sheikh Russel Gastro Liver Institute and Hospital, a 250-bed new healthcare facility, as a dedicated hospital for health workers.
Preferring anonymity, an official at the health division of the health ministry told the FE that there are official discussions over dedicating the hospital for health workers but no decision has been finalized yet.
"We will meet the director general of directorate general of health services (DGHS) on behalf of physicians to place our demand for dedicating healthcare facility for frontline fighters against virus," Dr Pave mentioned.
Dr MD Habitué Raman, director of Management Information System of Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), told the FE that "There are special hospitals for law enforcers and some other professionals before the outbreak of the virus in the country. So, we don't have planned to build or dedicate a separate hospital for health workers at this moment."
