Staff Reporter :
Nearly two full years into the ongoing pandemic, the coronavirus testing is still complicated in Bangladesh.
Many have to struggle to get tested in the public hospitals due to restrictions on sample collection, whereas private labs are charging high fees making it inaccessible for general public.
Public health experts said that people should be given access to free and rapid Covid-19 tests, which is a key tool in containing the spread of the virus.
Bangladesh reported its first confirmed case of Covid-19 on March 8. Up to 26 January 2022, 1,731,524 confirmed cases and 28,237deaths were reported in the country.
On Thursday, a total of 49,073 tests were done across Bangladesh, reporting 15,527 confirmed cases amid a sudden surge in Covid-19 infections in the country.
At present, a total of 153 RTPCR laboratories throughout the country have been performing coronavirus tests. Besides, there are 57 Gene Expert labs. These labs have the facility to conduct rapid antigen tests also.
Besides, the government has permitted 100 private labs to conduct antigen tests.
Visiting various government hospitals in the capital on Thursday, it was found that people were waiting for hours in long queues as the collection process was slow due to inadequate booths and lack of necessary manpower.
“I came here at 8am. Now it is 10am but my sample is yet to be collected,” said one Raju Ahmed while standing in a queue in front of Mugda General Hospital in the capital yesterday.
He said the testing facility here remains as it that was during the outbreak of Covid in 2020. “I saw huge number of test seekers lined up in queue at that time and the same situation still prevails as the authorities fails to accelerate the facility with deployment of adequate booths and manpower,” he said with a note of frustration.
On Thursday Nazma Akhter, 40, came to buy medicine from a pharmacy in the capital’s Mugda area as her son caught fever and cold.
Asked if he had taken the corona test at the government hospital, the woman argued that she did not have enough time to wait in such a long queue for her sick son.Besides, I cannot afford test at the private lab because it need much money.
The government hospitals and labs have been charging only Tk100 for a RT-PCR Covid test whereas the suspected Covid patients have to pay Tk 3,000 from Tk3,500 for the same test at private labs.
Private hospitals in India charge only Rs500 to 1,000 for the RT-PCR test.
Zafar Iqbal, who went to test a sample of coronavirus recently at a private facility in the capital yesterday said, “I had to return from the sample collection centre as I went there without making an online appointment.”
He said the centre run by an NGO is collecting a limited number of samples though there were huge rush of test seekers. “Sick people need instant testing facility when the country is witnessing a rapid surge in coronavirus. In this situation, limiting the testing by the way of appointment is not reasonable”.
Ataur Rahman, a government employee, said he recently contracted Covid-19 for the second time and got tested at the Government Employee’s Hospital, Fulbaria, in the capital.
“I had to wait for three days to get the serial for Covid testing there after hectic efforts. It took three days to provide the test report,” he added.
Like them, the coronavirus test system is still a difficult subject for many.
Experts said the test needs to be made readily available for all because it is necessary to judge the real picture of pandemic situation in the country.
“First of all, the government should make coronavirus testing hassle-free. Besides, it should expand testing capacity in the centers across the country and ensure access to free testingat the public healthcare facilities for the people having Covid symptoms,” Prof. Muzaherul Huq, former adviser, South-East Asia region, World Health Organization (WHO), told The New Nation.
The health experts said widespread tests is essential to contain the transmission of the disease, but the high cost for it at private hospitals has become a big burden for many.
“The government should also take steps to revise the cost of Covid testing at private labs and hospital in view of falling testing kit prices in the global market. It should be done immediately to enhance the accesses to Covid testing,”Prof Huq added.
