Owners of some private clinics and diagnostic centers in Kushtia are earning a huge sum of money with the help of brokers as government hospitals lack proper facilities for conducting different tests.
On the other hand, the rising number of unauthorized and substandard labs has become a concern for people, civil society leaders say, demanding stricter monitoring.
The authorities say they are conducting raids and scrutinizing documents of private institutions and will do more to ensure that patients and their families are not robbed in the name of treatment.
According to the district administration, each of the six upazilas of the district has a hospital for a population of 1.9 million. However, many important lab tests are not conducted at these facilities regularly due to a lack of adequate and skilled manpower and equipment.
Apart from a handful of tests, most diagnoses must be done at some private laboratories, which charge exorbitant fees.
There are 140 authorized private hospitals, clinics and diagnostic centers in Kushtia. Among them, 88 clinics and diagnostic centers were registered in the 2022-23 financial year.
But beyond these, many unlicensed clinics and diagnostic laboratories are operating freely in full view of the authorities. These institutions are constantly increasing in number and are often blamed for wrong diagnoses and treatments due to a lack of proper supervision.
Kushtia Clinic-Diagnostic Owners Association Secretary Arafat Zaman Tapan told Dhaka Tribune that there are about 93 registered clinics and diagnostics centers in Kushtia Sadar upazila alone. “However, we do not have information about how many private hospitals, clinics and diagnostic centers are unregistered.”
He said many owners are not registering their businesses because the process has become more complicated. Therefore, the process should be simplified.
Golam Rahman, a medical technologist (lab) at Mirpur Upazila Health Complex, told Dhaka Tribune that the hospital can conduct many tests but some cannot be done due to a shortage of reagents.
He stated that an average of 25-30 patients come to the hospital every day for various tests.
The lab official also said there is a shortage of manpower in the pathology department of the hospital. Apart from this, they lack necessary modern equipment.Upazila Health and Family Planning Officer Dr Piyush Kumar Saha told Dhaka Tribune that the hospital is now conducting many tests. “We also have X-ray facilities here. Patients have to go to private diagnostics centers because we do not have digital X-ray machines,” he added.
Rafiqul Alam Tuku, president of Kushtia Conscious Citizens Committee, said anyone can become the owner of private hospitals, clinics and diagnostic centers nowadays. “The reality is that if you have some money, you can think about it at night and start a clinic in the morning.”
The unauthorized institutions are capitalizing on the illness of helpless people. The common people are being cheated in various ways in the name of treatment. Immediate action should be taken against them, he added.
Mirpur Upazila Health Complex Management Committee Member Nazrul Karim said he will bring up the matter at the next meeting of the committee.
A veteran Freedom Fighter, Nazmul Karim is also the Upazila Corruption Prevention Committee president. He demanded that the authorities increase monitoring and enforcement drives at the private clinics and labs and ensure standard service at low cost at the government hospitals.
Kushtia Civil Surgeon Dr HM Anarul Islam told Dhaka Tribune that 140 private hospitals, clinics and diagnostic centers are registered in the district.
“I cannot say how many are unregistered. We rarely receive reports on such businesses. Recently, we took action against an authorized lab. Our drives will continue,” he said, adding that he will take action if any doctor refers patients to private clinics and labs during office hours.
“Patients have to get some tests done outside the government hospitals if they come in the afternoon till night because we are closed after 2:30pm,” he said, stating that it is expected that no hospital will have facilities for all kinds of tests.
