The Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism has rejected a list of private health facilities prepared by the DGHS to run Covid-19 tests for air passengers.
The list excluded government institutions from facilitating Covid-19 clearance certificates for people going out of the country.
The list also surprised the ministry as the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) recommended that outbound passengers obtain the certificate from 33 listed private hospitals and diagnostic centres.
Recently, the government made it mandatory for all Bangladeshis going abroad to obtain a Covid-19 clearance certificate provided by any DGHS-approved test facility.
A list of private hospitals and diagnostic centres, signed by DGHS Additional Director General (Administration) Prof Nasima Sultana, was sent to the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism on July 14, being approved by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
Earlier on July 12, the Civil Aviation Ministry requested a list of government-approved test facilities.
Upon getting the list in hand, a surprised Civil Aviation Ministry sent another letter to the Health Ministry asking for inclusion of some government testing facilities.
The recent Covid-19 testing scam at two private health facilities -- Regent Hospital Limited and JKG Health Care -- compelled the Civil Aviation Ministry to make the decision.
Of the recommended institutions in the list, 19 are hospitals and 14 are diagnostic centres.
Among the hospitals, 13 are in Dhaka city, three in Gazipur, and one each in Chittagong, Brahmanbaria, and Bogra.
Of the diagnostic centres, 12 are in Dhaka, and one each in Chittagong and Narayanganj.
Civil Aviation Ministry sources said the Health Ministry and the DGHS, in an inter-ministerial meeting on Sunday, were asked to compile a list of private and public testing facilities. This way, outbound Bangladeshi passengers would not be harassed by fraud, and could get their tests done at a low cost.
In the meeting, the government also announced it was mandatory for outgoing passengers to have a Covid-19 clearance certificate.
Most of the passengers are expatriates who have been stuck in Bangladesh for months due to the Covid-19 situation. Many of them will not be happy to spend much for the test because of their financial condition, officials said.
"But they prepared a list which will perhaps help a select group of beneficiaries," a highly placed source at the Civil Aviation Ministry said.
DGHS Additional Director General (Planning and Development) Dr Sanya Tahmina Jhora said some passengers going overseas may be asymptomatic, but most are not infected by Covid-19. They need only screening. So, the DGHS made a list of private health facilities to reduce pressure on the government ones.
"We refrained from enlisting the government hospitals to avoid extra pressure there so that they can be kept engaged in treating genuinlye infected patients," she said.
"[In addition] the airlines seek Covid-19 clearance certificates issued no more than 72 to 96 hours prior to flight departure. It is not possible for government testing facilities to provide a report within this short window of time," she explained.
"[Considering the points], we made that list and sent it to the ministry [health] through the IEDCR [Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research].
"We will look into it again if the Civil Aviation Ministry has objections to the list," the DGHS official added.
How the testing facilities were chosen
Asked how they nominated hospitals and diagnostic centres for the task, DGHS official Nasima Sultana said they made it reviewing applications filed by the hospitals and diagnostic centres.
"We checked documents and saw whether they have a biosafety Level 2 (BSL2) lab for conducting Covid-19 RT-PCR tests or not," she said.
Biosafety Level 2 is suitable for work involving agents of moderate potential hazard to personnel and the environment.
The DGHS could not inspect the facilities physically due to time constraints. "But we asked the local authorities to verify and report on it as quickly as possible," she said.
"19 out of 33 facilities have already been verified."
According to DGHS documents, a Covid-19 test walk-in fee at hospitals and diagnostic centres should not be more than Tk3,500, and Tk1,000 extra will be added if samples are collected from home.
There are also two government supported labs on the list. They will also charge the same fee if they conduct tests with their own kits and logistics support.
The two labs are Sheikh Fazilatunnessa Mujib Memorial KPJ Specialized Hospital and Nursing College in Gazipur, and the Gazi Covid-19 Real-Time PCR Test Lab, Rupganj, in Narayanganj.
Civil Aviation Ministry's objection
Speaking to Dhaka Tribune on condition of anonymity, officials at the Civil Aviation Ministry and the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) said that not all the private facilities in the list have standard testing facilities and manpower.
They also said some of the PCR labs do not work properly, where maintaining biosafety is a must-have. Many do not even have a proper website to upload the test reports, which is mandatory.
The government has proposed 15 conditions and criteria for nominating laboratories to conduct coronavirus tests, under the technical committee on Covid-19 laboratory investigation.
Md Mohibul Haque, senior secretary to the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism, said: "The Health Ministry could not provide us the names of testing facilities which are up to the standard. So, we could not announce the list though time is running out."
CAAB Chairman Md Mafidur Rahman said they are yet to get the proper list.
Biman made another list of test labs
Biman Bangladesh Airlines gave a list of 29 test laboratories for its passengers to get Covid-19 clearance certificates and posted the list on its website on July 14.
The list was later removed from the website, after the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in an inter-ministerial meeting, asked the DGHS to prepare a list of test laboratories.
A Biman official said, as they are yet to get the DGHS approved list, their passengers are still undergoing Covid-19 tests at the 29 test laboratories they had recommended earlier.
However, DGHS official Dr Sanya Tahmina, said she was unaware of the list of health facilities prepared by Biman.
Officials at the Civil Aviation Ministry said the DGHS is now playing hide and seek instead of acting responsibly on the matter.
