Why are unlicensed health facilities still in operation?

The Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), after conducting a court-mandated investigation, has found as many as 1,027 hospitals, clinics, diagnostic centres and blood banks that are operating without a valid licence. This was revealed in a report that came in response to a writ petition over the death of a five-year-old boy named Ayaan at Dhaka's United Medical College Hospital during a botched circumcision procedure.

The fact that so many facilities are illegally providing healthcare services, including surgeries, is chilling indeed. One dreads to imagine the potential implications of this situation. A healthcare centre without authorisation essentially means it is operating without any accountability. In this regard, the role of the DGHS, which is supposed to prevent this, is also alarming. The hospital where Ayaan died had also been operating without renewing its licence for about a year. When asked why it was so, a DGHS director tried to avoid responsibility by saying the hospital was not on their database, and that "a particular hospital comes under supervision only after it is registered." Are we to assume that the DGHS has no inspection mechanism for facilities failing to renew registration? If so, are all such facilities operating with zero oversight?

Unfortunately, we have been asking these questions for years, with no justifiable answers. Even more unfortunate is the fact that little to nothing has been done to rectify this appalling state of affairs. One may recall the case of Regent Hospital, which was busted in 2020 for producing fake Covid-19 test results. The media then reported that Regent had been operating without a valid licence since 2014. If there is no scope for monitoring such facilities, their level of negligence and mismanagement while dealing with ailing patients is anyone's guess.

The continuous disregard for people's safety and medical accountability that we're witnessing must stop. We urge the health authorities to do the due diligence to ensure that no unregistered facility remains unidentified or can continue operating, putting people's lives at risk. Anything that compromises public health must be addressed quickly.