Despite calling for strengthening the healthcare system over the last two years of pandemic, the calls fall into the deaf, and no change is happening for enabling affordable healthcare for all. The healthcare facilities for the low-income communities in urban and rural areas are still largely unmet, though the Constitution promulgated the rights in 1972. In the meantime, private healthcare facilities gained popularity to all who can afford and those who cannot but compelled to take the service minimising other necessities. Public healthcare facilities are largely inept, unequipped and understaffed. The case of Nazirabazar Matri Sadan (a maternity clinic) under Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) is absolutely pathetic, where physicians come very rarely.
With the lack of physicians and infrastructural issues, the Matri Sadan actually operates so dysfunctionally that locals are turning away from availing services from it. The 31-bed hospital was inaugurated on January 27, 2002 by the first elected mayor of Dhaka City Corporation Mohammad Hanif. Traffic jams are a common scenario in the area throughout the day. As a hot-spot for ongoing construction works, the hospital is plagued by the sound of hammer-on-metal all the day. The 31-bed hospital is supposed to have five doctors, however, it currently has three. The hospital also suffers from lack of nurses, there are three instead of five. One of them is currently on maternity leave. On the first floor of the six-storey hospital, only one nurse was seen stationed there.
Nearby patients said there are shortages of doctor, nurse, medicine or other supporting staff. It is obstructing the hospital’s service delivery. According to Dhaka South City Corporation’s health department data, 8,087 patients took service from the hospital’s Outpatient Department in 2020-21. Around 329 patients were treated at the Indoor Department, while 103 got admitted and treated at the Emergency Department. The government ought to focus on affordable primary healthcare service to reach everyone, even hard-to-reach communities and urban poor.
