Responding to call of humanity

Rohingya refugees undergoing treatment at Chittagong Medical College Hospital (CMCH) have got the hospital authorities and Patients' Welfare Association (PWA) beside them.

Both the authorities have come forward with treatment materials and medicines for the injured Rohingyas at CMCH.  

According to CMCH sources, a total of 90 Rohingya refugees have been under treatment at the hospital. In the meantime, 16 have been released from the hospital till Thursday while two others succumbed to their injuries.

“We are providing them [Rohingyas] with all the medicines and other treatment materials available at the hospital,” said Dr Kamal Uddin, head of Neurosurgery at CMCH.

If they need any additional medicines and treatment materials, which are not supplied to the hospital, the hospital authorities contact the Patients' Welfare Association (PWA), he said. 

PWA bears the treatment cost from their own fund, the doctor added. 

Seventeen-year-old Khaleda Akter was admitted to the hospital on August 29 with bullet injures in her left leg.

Her aunt Bilkis Banu, who was attending Khaleda, said, “The hospital authorities supply all the medicines as we don't have money to buy them from outside.” “We share the food supplied by the hospital for Khaleda as we don't have money to buy food from outside.”

Besides, some kindhearted people voluntarily help them, said Dr Kamal, adding, even the doctors of the hospital sometimes contribute to the treatment cost of injured Rohingyas.

Bullet-hit Md Junaid is undergoing treatment at neurosurgery ward of the hospital. He underwent a surgery on Thursday.

Abdur Rahman, an attendant of Junaid, said the hospital authorities provided Junaid with the medicines and other treatment materials. “We do not have money to buy medicine from outside,” he said, adding, “A man in the hospital also gave me Tk 1,000 as I told him I don't have money.”

Regarding treatment of refugees, Brig Gen Jalal Uddin, director of CMCH and the president of PWA at CMCH, said, "We are providing treatment materials and medicines available at the hospital to the refugees. Besides, PWA provides fund for the materials or medicines, which are to be bought from outside." 

The PWA is a branch of social welfare division and its fund comes from the general people of the country, he said.

Around 400,000 Rohingyas entered into Bangladesh almost empty handed facing persecution by the Myanmar security forces.