Dr. Syed Nesar Ahmad Rumy :
Early days in the month of last March an accident occurred on the Dhaka Khulna highway near Gopalganj. It was reported that a group of students with some teachers of Wills Little Flower School were going to Tungipara to pay homage to Bangabandhu as an excursion trip of their school. But near Gopalganj that bus dashed a standing truck on the road side. It was also reported that the bus driver was a retired driver of Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation. The school hired the bus of Parjatan Corporation but due to the shortage of regular driver, Parjatan Corporation appointed that driver as on-call basis. As a result of that accident one teacher named Syeda Fahima Begum got severe hand injury and one of her hand got almost separated from her elbow. Another fifteen students also met different kind of injuries. The situation became very grave and the injured teacher was taken to DMCH Burn & Plastic Surgery Unit by air ambulance from Gopalganj. The doctors, nurses, paramedics and supporting staffs attended the victim after the accident and the doctors, nurses of the Burn & Plastic Surgery Unit became successful to graft the separated hand of the victim. The legendary doctor Dr. Samantalal Sen told the press,’ After 72 hours they can make comment whether her hand will work or not’. But still then everything was going well. Blood circulation started from her body to the injured hand. It was a very positive sign that the victim’s injury would be cured and this was very much expected. Whether the victim be totally cured or not is completely depended on the wish of almighty. But the doctors’ supports to that victim were very much commendable and at the same time the supporting nurses, paramedics’role was also commendable. This was the event in early March and people forgot this incident as Corona pandemic started in our country since early days of that month and Corona problem came to the forefront suppressing all other events in our country.
We know many negative stories against many doctors in Bangladesh and a good number of people go abroad for their treatment. Maybe that treatment available in our country but for the lack of confidence on our physicians many of us go abroad for treatment. Though it is very much known to us that this sort of treatment is very much available in our country and our doctors are competent enough to address this sort of challenges. For that reason only few steps and initiatives can change the whole scenario of our health administration. Changing behavioral pattern, cleanliness in the government hospitals can make a big change in this respect. With this the behavioral pattern of patients and their relatives should also be changed so that without any fear or hesitation doctors can take the right step to treat a particular patient. Many a times we see the relatives of patient attack the doctors and hospital buildings in Dhaka and elsewhere at the same time doctors should keep their clean image to the people. By any consideration it is the both sides’ responsibility to make the hospital and clinic environment user friendly.
It appears that the grafting hand of Syeda Fahima Begum is very unusual event in medical treatment history in our country. We know that in the developed country many such types of human body parts are re-grafted to the injured persons. Only we know that there are some cases of kidney transplantation happened in our country. A couple of years back a college student lost his hand for the competition between two buses close to the Sonargaon Hotel roundabout and doctors could not be able to graft his separated hand. Later that student died in the hospital. Recently the volume of road accidents in Bangladesh has increased manifold. And it has gone to the alarming state. We have laws, law enforcing agencies but no step can reduce this sort of untoward incident in the roads and highways in Bangladesh.
Every year a large number of people go abroad for their treatment and many of them come back to Bangladesh with satisfaction. We also know that there are a number of standard hospitals established in Bangladesh in last twenty years. It appears that the difference between those star hospitals and the public hospitals is only good environment, cleanliness, behavioral pattern and high cost. It is assumed that the treatment and service given to the patient by the general hospital is almost same. There have no big difference between the institutions of the two sides.
Now it is very much needed to improve the quality of service, behavioral pattern and cleanliness and patient friendly environment in the public and private hospitals at the same time doctors should take care of patients’ psychology as patients feel helpless when they come to the hospitals. This is the general situation prevailing in the hospitals in Bangladesh. Moreover, the cost of services should be kept within the reach of common people. If any person keeps on eye to the different treatment method of general hospitals & private hospitals he can find no difference of treatment. Only he can find is the better treatment environment and good behavior from the hospital authority.
We know we have qualified specialists and surgeons of different diseases. Moreover, we have very good net-work of disease control across the country. Recently different activities to fight against the Corona virus are showing this ability to us. Government is very much concerned about the public health and trying its best to address the recent public health issues. Now Corona virus has become pandemic. Developed countries like China, US, Canada, countries of European Union, UK, Iran are severely affected by Corona virus.
n addition countries of South Asia, Korea and other countries of the world are now fighting with Corona virus. Our doctors are trying their best to mitigate this current crisis. And their initiatives are very much visible to all. These are all positive approach which enhances the image of our doctors.
For the Corona crisis, information regarding the victim of bus accident at Gopalganj went out of the media but it is assumed that the situation of Syeda Fahima Begum is stable now. Hope, by this time she has come to her normal life. It must be a great achievement of our physicians if this would happen. In Bangladesh we have moderate health & medical administration structure, qualified paramedics, nurses and doctors of high quality, pharmacists and pathologists. In addition, Bangladesh has booming pharmaceutical sector. Now proper guidance, coordination are badly needed in the health sector. At the same time cleanliness and corruption free and patient friendly environment in the different hospitals are needed and for that the health sector environment will get a positive look in the days to come.
(Dr. Rumy is a retired civil servant).
