The death of 500 children in this man-made epidemic in this age is not acceptable
Photo Collected
Bangladesh wants to be a developed country. The country’s per capita income and life expectancy have increased. One or two children in small families. One or both of those children are dying of measles. This ‘family tragedy’ cannot be ignored by the state. The death of 500 children in this man-made epidemic in this era is in no way acceptable.
Measles eradication target was set this year itself. But ironically, we are suffering from the problem of measles. Various international and domestic data show that the incompetence of the interim government’s health department, bureaucratic complications, unnecessarily complicating the established management of vaccination, inability to conduct the measles campaign at the scheduled time, etc. have faced unprepared situations.
বিজ্ঞাপন
After the news of child death due to measles in Rajshahi, the present health minister wanted to hang the director of that hospital on the gallows. But from this kind of reaction of the health minister, the kind of initiative that was supposed to be taken in the future, was not taken. Attempts were made to overrule public health officials to declare measles an epidemic. It is a gradual avoidance of big problems. When it is said from the highest level of the Ministry of Health, “Measles happened to me too” or an attempt is made to lighten the matter, then there is a feeling of dismay among others in the Ministry, Directorate.
The health minister has announced the cancellation of the leave of doctors in charge of Eid. The announcement came because the situation is not normal. The Minister-Secretary is visiting various hospitals to see the children under treatment for measles. But the government did not declare the measles situation as an epidemic. I can say from the experience of the corona epidemic, if the measles situation was declared an epidemic, everyone’s attention would have been on this. The government could have given the responsibility to a special person to control the infection situation or to reduce the death. Special allocations were available for the treatment of measles. However, due to lack of allocation, hospitals and institutions are facing various obstacles in the treatment of measles.
বিজ্ঞাপন
Children from low income families are being admitted to various hospitals. The patient’s relatives are asked to buy oxygen, various medicines. Families cannot afford it. But if there is a special allocation, the hospitals could provide uninterrupted services.
If the measles situation was declared an epidemic, the children would have received the same treatment at all levels, including the upazila and district levels. As a result, there was no need to come to Dhaka. Apart from this, we had an emergency plan of action and a program to implement it. None of these things. As a result, the march of measles patients and deaths in hospitals does not stop.
We do not have national guidelines to deal with measles situation. If the doctors-nurses were trained under the guidelines, the complications and deaths of measles could be reduced. Bangladesh Udaramoy Research Center Bangladesh (ICDDRB) has developed Bubble C-Pap. It has not been rolled out to hospitals across the country. Had this been done, the oxygen-deficiency of the children would not have been so severe.
Children have been vaccinated. It is said that the outbreak will decrease. However, children who are hospitalized with post-measles complications for a long time are also at risk. People will go to the village on Eid. Families with small children should refrain from traveling on Eid if they have fever, cough or any other symptoms. If you develop symptoms of measles while traveling, it will become more difficult to get treatment in the village during Eid.
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