Poor people in char area under Sadar upazila are deprived of medical facilities due to lack of monitoring health complexes and shortage of doctors.
According to sources, more than 2 lakh people of Alatuli, Charbagdanga, Shahjahanpur, Sundarpur, Debinagar and Islampur unions do not get treatment facilities as the physicians do not attend the health complexes.
Locals said the doctors who are appointed in the health complexes do their duties in another places depriving the patients.
They do it managing the higher authorities causing suffering to the poor people who have no ability to take treatment by going another places, they said.
According to health officials, the complexes in the unions cannot be operated properly due to short of physicians and staffs.
When visiting the Charbagdanga Health Complex on 18 August, it was found that the complex was locked while the patients gathered out side.
Some locals were grazing cows on the ground and they said maximum times the complex remained closed.
Sometimes a staff came and opened the lock. But within a short time he went out closing the complex.
They also added that in most of the cases, doctors suggest patients to go to certain clinics for certain tests where they have some form of involvement. For this, they have also appointed some middlemen.
Middlemen said private clinic owners and doctors appoint them to bring patients to their clinics and chambers.
Jabbar, an auto-rickshaw driver, who also works as an agent of a renowned gynaecologist, said the doctor appointed him to convince patients to go to his private chamber instead.
He added that he gets commission if he can deliver patients.
The same picture of the health complexes of the area.
Minoti Rani of Shahjahanpur union said no physician visited the helath complex any time.
She said mortality rate had increased over the few years in the area due to lack of treatment.
Monirul Islam Nabi, member of the union said: “ We have informed poor condition of the health complexes in the areas many times. But the authorities did not take steps in this regard.”
“When a patient is suffering more, he cannot be taken to the town hospital immediately due bad shaped road and lack of vehicles. So we urgently demand the solution of the situation,” he added.
Dr Abdur Rahman, health officer of Sadar Health Complex said maximum physicians did not go to the char areas due to bad shape of roads and communication system.
“Though there are seven posts of medical officer in seven health complexes in the upazila, every post remains vacant now,” he added.
“If anyone is posted in the complex, he or she tries to be transferred to the town anyway,” he also said.
Civil Surgeon Dr Alauddin said three or four doctors had been sent to Sadar hospital for few days as there was shortage of doctors.
“They will attend their own office soon,” he also said.
