The Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) under Health and Family Welfare Ministry will spend Tk 400 crore to procure Covid-19 detection test kits and swabs aiming at meeting the shortage in the country.
Operation of some of the RT and Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) labs have suspended across the country due to the shortage of kits and swabs.
But, DGHS is not interested about stopping corruption and recovery of money from nameless companies. For instance, Jaddi Automobile Company was given the task of supplying masks and PPE, the company took away Tk 9 crore without providing equipment. Going to the official address given by the company, no office was found, DGHS sources said.
Finance Division on Thursday gave permission to DGHS for readjustment of fund of Tk 500 crore which is supposed to be spent for materials and machineries necessary for treatment of patients in the state run hospitals.
Official of finance division said, “It is the budget allocation for DGHS, we have given permission to readjust.”
The division has its own rules and regulations on spending that fund for buying kits and swabs to meet the shortage, official said.
The official also said, “We questioned the Dhaka Medical College and Hospital regarding their expenditure Tk 20 crore on food and doctors and health workers dedicated to treating Covid-19 patients.”
Additional Secretary of the Health Services Division Abu Hena Morshed Zaman, Director, Central Medical Stores Depot (CMSD) sent a demand letter to Secretary of Finance Division Abdur Rouf Talukder for disbursement of Tk 498.55 crore for import of kits, PCR test kits and to meet possible future expenditure during the fight against Covid-19 pandemic.
Later, finance division disbursed that amount.
CMSD head in the letter also said, “Shortage of coronavirus test kits is both dragging down the number of detection tests across the country and risking an increase in infection rates which is likely to tarnish the image of the government.”
Though it appears that the number of coronavirus cases has marked a fall over last three weeks, health expert and convener of Jannaswashthya Sangram Parisad Faiezul Hakim said the positive case rate is actually now higher than in the past as the transmission is gradually growing for lack of effective preventive measures. He also said the DGHS has taken a ‘suicidal’ decision of reducing the number of daily coronavirus tests in the country at a time when the infection rate was not down.
It is apprehended that infection rate can sharply increase because of winter by mid-August or first week of September, he said.
He further said the doctor and nurses of the private hospital protest lack protection gears.
Last month, the kit shortage has also been reported from Noakhali, Feni, Laxmipur, Jamalpur and even in some private hospitals in Dhaka.
In Bangladesh, the entire government healthcare delivery system can conduct 15,000 coronavirus infection tests in the 62 testing center, according to the DGHS but the demand on the ground is four to five times higher than the capacity. Coronavirus cases in Bangladesh surpassed the 2,39,860 mark on Saturday, according to the latest update by the Health Ministry. South Asia’s overcrowded country recorded death toll 3,132 while 1,36,253 patients recovered.
