Ctg youth sets up healthcare facility for those in need
When reports of people being denied treatment at various hospitals started circulating on social media, a youth in Chattogram took it upon himself to help alleviate such sufferings. He promptly set up a five-bed primary healthcare facility for those in need of the service.
Md Iqbal Hossen, a young entrepreneur working in the readymade garment sector, after coming up with the idea, opened the facility at port city's Hamidchar, a low-income area.
Everything was set up using his personal income, and the facility started serving people on Saturday.
Talking to The Daily Star, Iqbal said he saw non-Covid-19 individuals who needed treatment were dying, and oxygen was almost unavailable in the city, leaving the poor to suffer.
"This prompted me to do something for these people who need primary care and oxygen. I then collected five beds and other medical equipment to run the facility," he said.
Two doctors, alongside local volunteers, are temporarily operating the facility. Efforts to manage permanent doctors and few nurses are ongoing.
The facility mainly focuses on helping individuals with mild ailments. They also provide primary health check-ups like measuring blood pressure and glucose, but one of their important services is providing individuals with oxygen.
"So far, I managed to acquire three oxygen cylinders, oximeters, nebulisers, glucose meter and other medical equipment. I'm trying to get more equipment to improve the service," he added.
Jesmin Akther Sathi was moving from one hospital to another with her husband, who was having breathing difficulties.
"My husband had been suffering from some complications, and his condition deteriorated on Sunday night," Jesmin said. "We went to a local doctor who advised us to manage oxygen for him. Then we spent the whole night looking for oxygen but in vain."
"Finally, someone informed us of this [Iqbal's] facility. We rushed there and oxygen was arranged for my husband," she said.
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