JU needs a properly equipped medical centre

We are concerned about the deplorable state of Jahangirnagar University's medical centre that has repeatedly failed to provide adequate and emergency healthcare to students, faculty, and staff. The centre has long been plagued by various challenges including underfunding, staff shortages, and mismanagement. These issues have once again come to the fore after the recent death of Zubayer Hossain, a third-year student at the Department of Anthropology. Zubayer, who suffered from haemophilia, reportedly did not receive timely ambulance support from the medical centre, which allegedly worsened his condition and ultimately led to his death. Students have repeatedly voiced their concerns about the substandard services at the centre, citing poor quality of care, lack of emergency preparedness, and failure to respond to critical situations. Yet, their grievances have been largely ignored.

Reportedly, the centre lacks specialists, medical assistants, and support staff. It currently has only nine doctors for the over 12,500 students. No new doctor has been recruited since 2005. The centre's budget has also failed to keep pace with the growing demands of students and rising costs of medical services. The JU administration's apathy towards the healthcare needs of students and staff is also evident in its recently announced budget, where the allocation for medical services stands at Tk 45 lakh, or just 0.14 percent of the total budget. Medical allocations have hovered around this paltry percentage for the past few years. Despite the rising prices of essential medicines and pathology kits, allocations have not increased.

According to JU's chief medical officer, the current budget falls far short of actual needs, as at least Tk 80 lakh is required annually for medicines and dressing equipment, along with an additional Tk 75 lakh to maintain pathology services. Therefore, increasing the health budget is imperative. Recruiting more doctors and medical staff will also require increased budgetary allocations.

JU students have long been demanding improvements to the medical services. Their demands include increasing the number of ambulances, recruiting experienced doctors, nurses, and support staff, ensuring a consistent supply of essential medicines, adding necessary diagnostic equipment, enhancing emergency services, upgrading the medical centre into a full-fledged hospital, implementing health insurance for students, etc. We think these demands deserve serious consideration. Students need proper medical care and reliable emergency services on their campus.