Scarce ICU beds a big worry

According to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), there are 508 ICU beds in government hospitals and 737 ICU beds in private hospitals.

In the capital, only 10 ICU beds are available for coronavirus patients at Kuwait Bangladesh Friendship Hospital.The process of installing another 16 is underway, Aminul Hasan, director of Hospitals and Clinics of DGHS, told The Daily Star.

"Ninety more ICU beds will be set up for Covid-19 patients at Kurmitola Hospital, Dhaka Medical College Hospital, Mugda General Hospital, Sheikh Russel Gastro Liver Hospital and several other hospitals."

But there are no intensive care facilities dedicated for coronavirus patients at hospitals outside the capital, said Aminul.

Contacted, Brig Gen Md Shahidullah, director of Central Medical Stores Depot that supplies medical equipment to public hospitals, said they now have 164 ventilators after recently providing 36 ventilators to the ICUs at several hospitals in the capital.

If infected with coronavirus, a person may develop pneumonia as the virus attacks lungs and in some cases impedes the victim's ability to breathe. Ventilators, which deliver air to the lungs through a tube placed in the windpipe, are crucial to keep such patients alive.

Elderly people with pre-existing health conditions such as diabetics and hypertension are very vulnerable to coronavirus infection. If they get infected, a large portion of them will need intensive care and ventilation.

According to a 2018 report of Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, the country has a population of 16.46 crore. Of them, 1.30 crore are above 60.

There has been concern over treatment facilities for elderly Covid-19 patients in the country as all the five persons who died from the virus were aged between 60 and 75.

The first was a 70-year-old man who contracted the disease after coming into contact with a returnee from abroad. He had chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, hypertension, heart disease and diabetes. He died at the ICU of Apollo Hospital.

The other four victims had also been suffering from various medical complications.

Experts say dedicated intensive care facilities should be arranged for coronavirus patients because an infected person cannot be kept with other patients in hospitals.

On March 21, Health Minister Zahed Maleque said a hundred ICU beds would be installed in public hospitals to deal with coronavirus patients.

The minister further said 300 more ICU beds would gradually be set up. He, however, did not give any time frame.

Be-Nazir Ahmed, former director (disease control) of the DGHS, said there is a huge gap between demand and supply in terms of intensive care facilities.

"But the most important thing is that ICU management in the country is very poor."

There have been reports that patients admitted to ICUs contracted new diseases while receiving treatment, he told this newspaper yesterday.

The former DGHS director said the ICUs in private hospital are not up to the mark for a lack of necessary equipment and skilled manpower.

He said the government should take immediate steps to increase intensive care facilities across the country, and set up a specialisedhospital with 100-200 ICU beds to treat coronavirus patients.

Prof Muzaherul Huq, former adviser (Southeast Asia region) at the World Health Organisation, said Covid-19 patients should be treated in a designated hospital, and ventilation and other facilities at the ICU should be there.

According to the DGHS, the first ICU in the country was set up at the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases in 1980.