Bangladesh orders heightened security in hospitals after terror attacks

The government has decided to step up security in all public and private hospitals throughout Bangladesh in the wake of terrorist attacks.

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has also asked medical and dental colleges to look into the long-time absence of students and teachers.

An official order will be issued soon, the ministry said in a statement on Sunday after an “emergency” meeting.

State Minister for Health Md Zahid Maleque chaired the meeting that took those decisions following the July 1 Dhaka cafe siege in which 20 hostages including 17 foreigners were killed.

A week later, another attack before the Eid day congregation at Sholakia killed three people including two policemen.

Police later released names of persons who have disappeared amid growing fears about missing individuals turning up as terrorists.

A doctor at Dhaka Shishu Hospital, Khandaker Rokonuddin, 50, was among them who was found missing along with his entire family. Police assumed they had travelled to Syria, a stronghold of the so-called Islamic State.

The health ministry also asked hospitals to stay alert so that services remain uninterrupted in the current situation.

It also instructed hospital directors to set up archway, metal detection, and close-circuit cameras and to take extra-caution about the patients’ attendants.

The private hospitals have been asked to recruit “sufficient” security personnel and the government hospitals to increase the deployment of police and ansars.

Director General for Health Services Prof Dean Mohammed Noorul Haque and senior officials of the ministry were present at the meeting.