The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has formed a three-member probe committee to investigate allegations that substandard masks were supplied to several state-run hospitals, which were supposed to recieve N-95 masks.
The ministry's Additional Secretary (development) for the Health Services Division M Saidur Rahman will lead the committee. The other members are Directorate General of Health Services Deputy Director M Aminur Rahman and the Health Ministry's Health Services Division Deputy Secretary Hasan Mahmud.
The committee has been asked to submit its report in three days.
A letter signed by Health Ministry Deputy Secretary M Abu Raihan issued on Sunday said the government had received allegations that substandard masks were supplied as N-95 masks to several government hospitals, including Mugda General Hospital in Dhaka.
The supplying company had given an explanation after the Central Medical Store Depot (CMSD) of DGHS asked about the allegations, the letter added.
It further said a probe committee has been formed to investigate the matter, with the allegation and the response from the supplier taken into cognizance.
The committee will investigate the specifications of the masks, number of masks collected, number of substandard masks delivered, number of substandard masks in stock at CMSD (if any) as well as other factors, and will finalize liability if any irregularities are found.
On Monday, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina directed the authorities concerned to strengthen monitoring in order to ensure that genuine masks and other personal protective equipment (PPE) are supplied to prevent coronavirus transmission.
“Boxes carry the labels ‘N-95 Mask’. But you have to look into whether the materials inside the boxes are genuine,” she said while addressing high officials of the health sector via video conference from Ganabhaban, reports UNB.
“Those who receive these [PPE] should check them properly,” she added.
During the video conference, CMSD Director Brig Gen Md Shahidullah said N-95 masks were not available at present.
However, KN-95, FFP-2, and P-2 masks are equivalent to the N-95 in terms of quality, and the CMSD has received 200,000 such masks which arre now being distributed, he added.
