Dhaka University medical centre in name only
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Mainuddin Saleh, an Islamic studies major at Dhaka University, went to the university's Shaheed Buddhijibi Dr Muhammad Mortaza Medical Centre with a fever last Monday at 8:00am -- an hour after its morning shift started.
However. to his disappointment, he found no doctors there and had to wait two more hours to see one. When he finally got to see a doctor, he was informed that the medicines he was prescribed and X-ray services were not available at the centre.
During two visits to the medical centre last week, this correspondent found a roster prepared for the doctors on December 29, 2021. According to that roster, 16 doctors are assigned to duty in three shifts.
In the morning shift, six to eight doctors are assigned to duty. However, this correspondent found only one on-duty doctor on Tuesday till 9:30am and two doctors on Wednesday till 11:00am.
Besides, there are three specialist doctors -- two for dental and one for eye, who are supposed to be present from 7:30am to 2:30pm every working day but this correspondent found none of them present at the centre before 10:00am.
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The medical centre has six part-time specialists -- radiologist, physiotherapist, cardiologist, pathologist -- who come in once or twice a week.
Students alleged that they had to wait for a long time to visit a doctor. When they did get a consultation, the doctors referred them to other hospitals.
They also said diagnostic units weren't always operational and even if they are, patients had to wait at least a week for test results.
At least five students who went to the medical centre between February and July to get their dental treatment said they were advised to go to the dentist's chamber instead of getting treatment there.
"The doctor did not even talk to me properly. He was busy on his phone the entire time," said Shams Sahela, a Bangla major.
"I knew that root scaling was available at the centre but the dentist informed me otherwise. I was advised to go to a hospital or manage Tk 5,000 for treatment at his chambers," said Mamun Hasan, an Urdu major.
Dr Rathindra Nath Sarker admitted to giving visiting cards to students who come to the centre for treatment. However, he said it was provided to them so that they can access necessary treatments that are not available in the centre.
Asked about maintaining the roster, he said the centre needs till 9:30am to clean equipment and make room treatment suitable.
Emran Hussain, a student of mass communication and journalism, said he needed to get an X-ray done on August 25 but had to Dhaka Medical College Hospital for it as the university's medical centre could not provide the service.
At least 10 students told this correspondent that they never get necessary medicines from the medical centre, except paracetamols and some common medicines and they had to buy necessary medicines from outside.
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Mohiuddin Roni, a student of theatre and performance studies, went on a hunger strike for three days after not getting proper treatment at the medical centre. It was then that the university authorities assured him that they will meet his demands.
However, the authorities did not keep their word later, said Roni.
An annual budget of Tk 2 crore was approved in 2022-23 fiscal for the university's medical centre. Of which, Tk 1 crore and 55 lakh were allotted for buying a digital X-ray machine, Tk 20 lakh for medicine import, Tk 10 lakh for pathological equipment, Tk 6 lakh for homoeopathy medicine, Tk 3.5 lakh for dental equipment and other equipment worth around Tk 5.5 lakh.
Md Humayon Kabir, principal store officer, said there are 27 kinds of tablets and 8 types of capsules available at the centre which are enough for primary treatment.
Asked about medicine scarcity, Medical Centre director Dr Hafeza Zaman said, "We can't afford many things due to budget and equipment constraints."
"The X-ray machine is too old and the only radiologist comes twice a week. The roster maintenance gets disrupted once in a while. And about the dentist, I will look into the matter and try to take necessary steps," she said in response to the allegations.
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