Sufferings of patients especially those who are critically ill, know no bounds, as they cannot reach hospitals for better treatment out of fear of vandalism and arson attacks by miscreants in the background of raging blockades and shutdowns.
The number of patients at renowned hospitals like Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH), Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU), Birdem and other private ones has drastically fallen since last week.
Even ambulances used to transport grievously ill patients are not spared during blockades. If by any chance one manages to get an ambulance, it charges four to five times than usual rate due to the risk involved.
One of the ambulance owners said life is more precious than money. “Drivers do not want to go outside Dhaka as they do not want to risk their lives.”
Brigadier General Mustafizur Rahman, director of the DMCH, said two days back a patient came to him and requested him to arrange an ambulance for his relative. When he talked to an ambulance owner, he charged Tk50,000 for a trip to Jamalpur.
When contacted, Brigadier General (Retd) Abdul Mazid Bhuyan said patients could not reach hospitals timely. In most cases, proper treatment is impossible when they reach late causing huge suffering for them.
Usually around 2,500-3,000 patients visit the DMCH outdoor each a day. Now, however, the number has fallen to 400-500.
The BSMMU director said at least 3,000 patients visit the outdoor hospital every day but over the last two weeks it has fallen to less than 1,500. As the BSMMU does not allow extra patients, however the number of their indoor patients has remained the same as earlier.
“But the patients who are ready to leave cannot do so as the ambulance charge has shot up.”
The picture is almost the same at the Birdem hospital where the number of diabetic patients has decreased significantly over the last two weeks. Usually more than 3,000 patients visit the hospital a day to seek treatment at the outdoor of the hospital. The number has now fallen below 900.
Brigadier General (Retd) Shahidul Hoque Mollick, director of the Birdem hospital, said it is unusual and unexpected. We have never had such a low number of patients even during the past hartals. The number of indoor patients has decreased too.
Shahidul Hoque Mollick, director of the hospital, said the hospital’s income had also shrunk dramatically.