Director-General of the Health Services Professor ABM Khurshid Alam slammed the media on recent reports over the scarcity of resources in the health sector, particularly on dedicated Covid-19 hospitals.
While health care workers and employees of the sector are risking their lives fighting Covid-19, some media are shattering their morale through “illogical criticism,” Khurshid Alam said Wednesday at a virtual press conference from the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
2000-bed field hospital did not ‘vanish’
About recent reports on the Bashundhara Field Hospital, set up as an isolation center for 2000 patients at the height of the pandemic in 2020, the DG said: “Running the hospital cost more than Tk60 lakh per month. But it had only 15 to 20 patients.
“The hospital had 400-450 staff including doctors and nurses, more than a thousand officers, employees, and security personnel, would work there,” he said.
“Due to a low number of patients, it became difficult to bear the cost and we had to shut the hospital down. We shifted the equipment from there to other hospitals across the country.”
Facilities expanded at DNCC’s Covid-19 hospital
The DGHS chief also said the Covid-19 Hospital set up in DNCC market premises in Mohakhali was also wrongly presented in the media after it was expanded to add 900 general beds.
He alleged that the news was carried out without inquiring with the authorities on their plans.
“Media reported that we were wasting public money to set up a hospital instead of improving the previous one. But we have a 200-bed ICU ward in the previous establishment of the DNCC Isolation Centre.”
“We have installed more than 900 general beds with oxygen supply to each bed. It wasn’t possible to accommodate everything in the previous set-up.”
A visibly upset Khurshid said, “We have considered journalists as co-fighters from the beginning in the battle against Covid-19. But some criticisms, leveled against us, in the media are shattering our morale. Criticisms follow mistakes, misleading people through them without knowing or understanding or looking for details can not be accepted,” Khurshid said.
“Doctors, nurses, health department, health ministry and employees of the healthcare sector have been working non-stop, risking their lives.”
“Please do not confuse people and crush our morale; stand with us. We can be wrong, but if anyone brings the mistakes to our attention, we can correct ourselves,” Khurshid said.
