Healthcare providers at tremendous risk

Healthcare providers at community clinics across the country are risking their lives—and that of their loved ones—by providing services to thousands of people suffering from fever, cough, and cold. With many hospitals and private clinics refusing to treat patients with symptoms similar to that of coronavirus, there has been a sharp rise in the number of people frequenting the community clinics. However, despite repeated requests to respective authorities, they have not been provided with sufficient protective gear to protect themselves and their families from the virus which has already killed over 131 people.

Most of the healthcare providers interviewed by The Daily Star stated that they were closely interacting with patients—at times even treating those who had returned from abroad—without any PPE. Many providers have had to buy gloves and masks with their own money in a desperate bid to protect themselves. Providers in selected upazilas did receive one PPE, a pair of gloves, a mask, and a bottle of hand sanitiser two weeks ago, but even those are barely enough since the PPEs and gloves are not reusable and the bottle of sanitiser is long gone. Meanwhile, the government has instructed these providers to collect samples from suspected patients after a one-day training. Unless it provides sufficient protective gear to each provider, such a move would have deadly consequences.

The government would have us believe that there is sufficient protective gear for all our healthcare professionals. If that is indeed the case, why are we exposing our dedicated healthcare providers to such immense risks? According to Bangladesh Doctors Foundation (BDF), an organisation of physicians, nearly 30 doctors across the country have tested Covid-19 positive daily in last one week on average, and as many as 324 doctors from government, private and specialised hospitals have so far been infected with Covid-19 till April 25.

It is unacceptable that we are failing so miserably at providing even the most basic of safety equipment to those sacrificing their own wellbeing to protect others. We urge the government to address this issue most urgently before we lose more of our valuable caregivers to the deadly virus.