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Published : 06 Apr 2016, 01:16 PM
The prime minister laid the foundation of the ‘Sheikh Hasina National Burn and Plastic Surgery Institute and Hospital’ in the capital’s Chankarpul area near Dhaka Medical College Hospital on Wednesday.
Speaking on the occasion, Sheikh Hasina said, “I do not mind if people who can afford it go abroad for treatment. But I believe it's possible to provide world-class treatment in the country.”
“The doctors of my country are brilliant enough (for that). Opportunities have to be created for them. Advanced facilities have to be ensured for them,” she said.
The prime minister expressed her hope that the world-class institute would turn into a ‘centre of excellence’ in study and research and the treatment of burns.
She said that the government plans to set up burn units at every medical college in Bangladesh.
The estimated cost of the 12-storied institute with a 500-bed hospital is Tk 5.34 billion.
The government expects that the construction of the project, approved by its highest economic policy-making body in November 2015, will be finished by the end of 2018.
Referring to the establishment of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) during her previous government, Hasina said two such institutions would be established in Chittagong and Rajshahi.
The medical universities would maintain links with leading international hospitals through the use of information and communication technology, she added.
At the event, DMCH Burn and Plastic Surgery Unit Coordinator Dr Samanta Lal Sen said around 600,000 people suffered burns in the country on an average.
At least 1,500 specialised surgeons are required for treating such a large number of patients, but Bangladesh now has only 52, he added.
BSMMU and Bangladesh College of Physicians and Surgeons (BCPS) offer post-graduate courses in burn and plastic surgery, but they are not enough to cater to the need of the country.
The three-block institute will be built under the supervision of the Bangladesh Army. One block will accommodate the burn unit, one plastic surgery unit and the other the academic wing.
Bangladesh’s first burn unit was set up with six beds in a room at Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) in 1986.
Plastic Surgeon Professor Dr Mohammad Shahidullah started the department at the DMCH, which was later upgraded to a 50-bed full-pledged unit in 2003 and then to 300-bed unit in phases.
