About 60 posts at Zakiganj Upazila Health Complex lying vacant

SYLHET, Oct 13: As many as 60 posts of staff members including 10 of physicians at the Zakiganj Upazila Health Complex in Sylhet have been lying vacant for long causing great suffering for the common and poor people.

Even some important posts have also been lying vacant over the last 10 years as the concerned authorities did not heed to the repeated request by the hospital authority in this regard, sources alleged.

Located on the Sylhet-Assam frontier, remote Zakiganj upazila stands 91 km off the district town of Sylhet having a troublesome communication due to the poor state of the road.

Inhabitants of the different areas as well as some people from the neighbouring Kanaighat upazila also depend on this hospital.

But due to the acute shortage of staff, the lone government hospital cannot deliver its minimum service for the patients who visit it every day.

They are disappointed as 60 posts are vacant for long.

It includes, 10 medical officers including four assistant surgeons, five nurses, two laboratory technicians, two midwives and two cooks.

A female gynaecologist joined the health complex last year, but she was taken on deputation to Sylhet, sources alleged.

Upazila health and family planning officer Abdullah Al Mehdi said, "We had repeatedly informed the higher authorities about the present condition of the health complex."

Zakiganj upazila council chairman Iqbal Ahmed said inhabitants of the upazila are mainly dependent on the health complex for their treatments. They cannot move to the district town due to the distant location and for financial reasons.

He urged the authority concerned to take immediate step to mitigate the problem.

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