The government on Sunday fixed the fees for the medical tests to diagnose dengue at all the country’s private hospitals, clinics and diagnostic centres. The decision has been taken against the backdrop of widespread allegations that private hospitals and clinics were charging 3-4 times higher fees from the dengue patients.
To tackle the ongoing outbreak of dengue, a mosquito-borne deadly disease, in the capital and across the country, the maximum fees for NS1 Antigen test will be Tk 500, IgG + IgM or IgG/IgM test Tk 500, and CBC (RBC + WBC + Hematocrit) test Tk 400. Besides, the dengue diagnosis tests can be done free of cost at all public hospitals across the country, Directorate of Health Service announced.
Earlier, the private hospitals in the capital were allegedly cashing in on the dengue scourge, charging exorbitant fees for dengue diagnosis and other associated tests for such patients. The fee for just the diagnosis of the disease varies from Tk 700 to Tk 4,000 at private hospitals and clinics, let alone other necessary tests like blood counts, as there was no government guideline on fees for the tests.
At least 7,513 dengue patients were hospitalised in the capital alone during the past 26 days of July and 9,657 in total this year, with eight people dying officially from the infection. In such a situation private hospitals and clinics, especially in the capital, are alleged to have been doing brisk business taking advantage of any kind of government guideline on or regulation of dengue tests fees.
Doctors said that any suspected dengue patient has to go through three types of tests in Bangladesh – IgG, IgM and NS1.Another sophisticated test called molecular testing through polymerase chain reaction or PCR is not available in Bangladesh except at the government’s disease monitoring arm – Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research.
Confirmation of dengue infection is more accurate through PCR than IgG and IgM. The NS1 test is comparatively less costly – and less reliable according to doctors.The patients coming to Square Hospital had to pay Tk 4,740 for the dengue diagnostic test including Tk 3,940 for IgG and Tk 800 for CBC. For NS1, it was taking Tk 2,230, excluding CBC. Shamorita Hospital at Panthapoth charges Tk 2,040 for NS1.
We want to clearly state that — incompetence, negligence and lack of awareness in the part of two Dhaka city corporations have made the dengue epidemic. Both the city corporations along with the Heath Ministry’s irresponsible attitudes have created a ‘health danger’ type situation in the country.
In the developed countries the relevant departments keep adequate preparations to tackle outbreak of such deadly diseases. They take round-the-year surveillance and preventive programmes. We are stunned hearing the lame excuses of two mayors about their total failure in tackling mosquito menace. Not only that, the DSCC mayor Sayeed Khokan at first termed the dengue epidemic as a rumour. But the reality is that, the government and two city authorities were fully unprepared to check the outbreak of dengue.
Dengue is not new in Bangladesh. People are also familiar with dengue, chikungunya and other mosquito-borne diseases for the last few years. So the question has raised why both the DCCs remained unprepared? We even didn’t see any role of RAJUK in this regard.
When dengue went out of control, the DCCs launched anti-mosquito crash programmes. Here also they failed. There were not enough effective insecticides in their godowns to initiate a battle against the deadly mosquito. Now the Directorate of Health has fixed the charges for pathological tests of dengue patients. But what is disturbing is that, they have also no preparation to tackle an emergency-like situation.
The saddest thing is we have a government famously incompetent for doing their jobs. Crisis is not dengue alone. The lives of the ordinary people have no values, so their deaths are just figures. The people are dying for unpreparedness of incompetent government officials with no competence to run the public affairs for public good. We see no easy reason or immediate hope for the people to see the end of miseries. So many more lives will be lost in the coming days.
