The health minister has alleged that doctors are regularly absent from their stations.
“I face questions from so many ministers, MPs and other political leaders since the doctors do not remain at their stations,” Health Minister AFM Ruhal Hoque said at a programme inaugurating the weeklong (October 1-7) de-worming programme on Tuesday.
“I do not understand Shwachip or Awami League. I do not want to see any doctor at the union sub-centre. I just want to see them at the upazila health complexes. In the name of working at the sub-centres, doctors remain absent regularly from their workplace,” he said.
The directors were failing to keep the doctors at their posted stations, the minister alleged.
“It is your [directors’] duty to distribute and redistribute the doctors.
If you fail, you will be sacked in near future instead of the doctors,” he warned.
At the event, organised at the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), five districts were announced filarial disease-free. The districts are Panchagarh, Thakurgaon, Chapai Nawabganj, Barisal and Jhalokati.
In the programme, special guest Md. Motahar Hossain, state minister for primary and mass education, informed the health minister that in his constituency there were 20 doctors posted but only four or five doctors were present at any given time.
Be-Nazir Ahmed, director of Disease Control at DGHS, said the authority would distribute deworming tablets to 22.5m children of 5-12 years age in the weeklong programme. Besides, about 40,000 school children would distribute deworming tablets among other students. They would also create awareness about the cause of worming diseases.
Out of a total of 19 Filariasis-affected districts, DGHS has already declared 15 districts Filariasis-free, he said.
Khondokar Md. Sifayetullah, director general of health services, presided over the meeting. State Minister for Health Mujibur Rahman Fakir, Tushar E.I. Fernando, Who representative in Bangladesh, Rusheli Hoque, deputy programme manager of Filariasis elimination and worm control programme spoke among others at the event.
