Govt has nothing to hide about dengue, delivering on healthcare mandate for patients: Minister

Health Minister Zahid Maleque has said the government is delivering on its mandate to provide health services to the people amid the ongoing bout of the mosquito-borne dengue disease running rife across Bangladesh.

Speaking to bdnews24.com, Zahid, who came in for huge criticism for some of his comments and for going on a foreign trip at the height of the dengue outbreak, said, "We don’t want to blame anyone. We have to work.

"We don’t want to avoid anything. We should not try to cover anything up. We should not sweep the dust under the carpet. We have to tell what is happening so that people become aware.”

Emphasising the efficiency of hospital management during the present outbreak in which hospitals have received over three times more patients than last year, the minister asked, “How are things going so well?”

“Definitely somebody is instructing, somebody is guiding….Somebody is working. You have to think about that.”

He explained, “We are not mandated to control mosquitoes. This year, mosquitoes are breeding 12 times more than before. Our mandate is to ensure medical care for the patients and we are doing that.”

“Can you give me an example of a hospital which has neglected to care for a patient with dengue? All of our hospitals are overloaded. Still they’ve managed to treat thousands of extra patients during this outbreak. Our doctors, nurses, and staff are all working. Nobody is getting any holidays.”

Zahid continued, “Did you find any crisis? We have arranged everything from testing kits to intra-venous saline. We even made dengue tests free in government hospitals, and capped the price to Tk 500 for private hospitals. We have imported 800,000 dengue testing kits. We still have 200,000 in stock after supplying kits across Bangladesh. Kits are coming in every day.”

The health minister also defended some of his comments, which he said were misconstrued by the media.

“When I said (the situation is) ‘under control’, I meant the treatment of dengue patients is under control. I did not mean the disease-carrying mosquitoes were brought under control. Who am I to say that? It’s the mandate of the city corporation. How can I say that? I said the treatment service is under control.”

He said he had been out of the country for “only two days”.

“No minister can travel abroad without the permission of the prime minster. There can be many problems and needs for which one may need to travel.”

“But if you think without my physical presence, the ministry will collapse then it’s a crime. Then you are maligning digital Bangladesh,” he said.

“Now that I am here in Dhaka talking to you, how can l know the situation in Cox’s Bazar? But I can tell you the situation. We have that system in place,” he said, pointing to the digital management system of the health sector developed in recent years.

The health ministry can also centrally monitor in real time, the presence of doctors across the country.

“Nothing had stopped because of me in those two days. Everything was well managed,” he said.

Addressing his critics, Zahid said, “If you cannot help, don’t do any harm.”

“Rather it’ll be good for the public, if you can point out where patients are not getting services. You tell us where is wrong. We’ll rectify that immediately,” he said.

He also thanked the prime minister for her support, adding: “The prime minister was always in touch from London. She gave us instructions. She directed us to give free treatment. She also instructed capping testing prices at private hospitals. We followed her instructions”.

This year, hospitals received over 35,000 dengue patients.

With the Eid-ul-Azha holidays looming, questions have been raised about the preparedness of hospitals outside Dhaka in light of the disease spreading across Bangladesh.

The health minister already allocated Tk 1 million for each district hospital and Tk 200,000 for each upazila hospital to buy anything they need in order to locally managing patients.

“We have trained 2,000 doctors. Our medicine specialists helped us with that. We have prepared a protocol. It has been distributed everywhere, including in private hospitals. Trained doctors have been sent to districts and upazilas,” he said.

“We hope that there will be no problem. Even then, any problem they (district and upazila hospitals) face, they will be able to directly contact us. We’ll always be in office, even on Eid day,” he said.

“We have also prepared four hospitals for any sudden spike – Sheikh Hasina Burn and Plastic Surgery Institute, Sheikh Russell Digestive Unit, new expanded site of the NITOR and Shaheed Suhrawardhy Hospital.

“The burns unit will be open from Friday while the other three will be functional from Saturday. I hope those will not be needed but still we are prepared.

“We have ordered the upazila hospitals to make a separate dengue corner.  I have visited some district hospitals and found that about 90 percent patients in those hospitals travelled back from Dhaka.

Talking about the measures to tackle the disease, the minister said, “We have opened a hotline – 16263.”

There is no specific treatment for dengue/severe dengue, but according to the World Health Organisation or WHO, early detection and access to proper medical care lowers fatality rates below 1 percent.

This year, there has been confusion over the number of deaths, with the government putting the death toll at only 30 so far while continuing to review every case. Media, however, reported over 100 fatalities.

However, in any figure, the percentage is well below 0.5 percent of the total number of patients admitted to hospitals.

“We don’t expect a single death. Many patients died due to late arrival to the hospitals. Those who come for treatment at the beginning and follow doctors instruction get well,” the minister said.

Dengue prevention and control depends on effective vector control measures against the carrier of the disease, the Aedes mosquito.

Zahid urged people to be aware of the disease and take preventive measures that include sleeping under mosquito nets.

According to WHO mosquito expert for the Southeast Asia region, the Aedes mosquito does not sit on the wall. It hides in a dark corner such as under the bed, table, chair, or behind the curtain or hanging clothes.

The expert also suggested cleaning all pots, buckets, tyres or anything where clean water can stay to prevent breeding.