The government has launched an investigation into the supply of ordinary masks in packets labelled as N95 masks for its medics fighting the coronavirus outbreak on the frontline.
Published : 21 Apr 2020, 04:31 AM
The health ministry formed a committee on Monday night after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina ordered the Directorate General of Health Services and Central Medical Stores Depot to monitor the supply.
The members of the committee are Additional Health Services Secretary Md Saidur Rahman, Deputy Secretary Hasan Mahmud, and DGHS Deputy Director Md Aminur Rahman.
They have been told to investigate the work order, specifications, amount, quality of the masks and whether there is any low-quality mask left at the CMSD.
They will specify responsibilities of relevant people if they find any irregularities.
CMSD earlier threatened to sue news publishers for “wrongly” naming Health Minister Zahid Malik, his son, Health Secretary Md Ashadul Islam, and Director General of Health Services Abul Kalam Azad in reports on the masks.
JMI Group, a Bangladeshi company producing medical equipment certified by the DGHS, has been supplying gloves, sanitisers and masks to the CMSD.
The company supplied the ‘wrong’ masks to doctors at Mugda General Hospital at the end of March but later apologised. The CMSD subsequently withdrew the masks from the hospital.
Doctors, nurses and other health workers in different hospitals have bemoaned the scarcity of N95 masks, with some taking to social media to vent their frustrations about the shortage and supply of wrong masks.
Facing questions from Hasina during a video conference on Monday, CMSD Director Brig Gen Md Shahidullah acknowledged that “mistakes” were made during the efforts to meet the immediate needs of hospitals. He said the authorities are now working to ensure proper distribution of medical equipment.