The government has fixed Tk 100 fee in public hospitals for diagnosing dengue while the fee is set at Tk 300 in private healthcare institutions across Bangladesh.
Health Minister Zahid Maleque came up with the announcement while talking to reporters after a meeting at the National Institute of Mental Health and Hospital in Dhaka on Sunday.
The fresh announcement comes just two days after DGHS chief Prof Abul Bashar Mohammad Khurshid Alam instructed government hospitals to provide free dengue tests in a bid to tackle the rapidly deteriorating situation of the disease across the country.
Zahid said, “We have given instructions to charge a fee of Tk 100 for NS-1 antigen tests in public hospitals. Private hospitals have been asked to charge Tk 300 for the same.
“The instruction will come into force immediately,” he added.
In 2019, the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) introduced free dengue tests in government hospitals following the severe outbreak of the mosquito-borne disease.
This year, the gradual increase in dengue infections has also created panic among the residents of Dhaka city and elsewhere in the country.
Hospitals are failing to cope with the pressure of dengue patients despite setting up new wards.
The health authorities reported 170 fatalities from dengue while the number of cases surged to 43,107 till Sunday morning.
