Saline scarcity hits Kuigram Sadar Hospital

FE Team | Published: September 09, 2023 21:40:08

The enrtance to the Kuigram Sadar Hospital — UNB

KURIGRAM, Sept 09 (UNB): Kuigram Sadar Hospital is struggling to manage essential Dextrose and Sodium Chloride (DNS) saline, used for short-term fluid replacement, due to its inadequate supply for the past one month.
The district is experiencing an acute shortage of the saline.
As the government-run hospitals cannot supply the saline as per demand, patients and their relatives are bound to buy the same from pharmacies paying double to triple. Before the price hiked, a 1000ml DNS saline was sold for Tk 90-95 but now it is being sold for Tk 250-300.
According to sources, over 200 patients get hospitalised at the 250-bed Sadar Hospital daily and around 400 patients undergo treatment with different problems.
Around 200 bags of saline supplied by the state-owned medicine manufacturing 'Essentials Drugs Company Ltd (EDCL) is needed to cope with the demand.
But, the saline supply from the EDCL remains suspended for the past few months, resulting in a disruption of providing saline to the patients.
Md Yunus Ali, who took his son with fever and stomach ache to the hospital on Friday morning, said he was asked to manage the DNS saline from outside the hospital and was finally able to buy a bag of saline for Tk 200 against its usual price of Tk 90-95 after searching several pharmacies.
Druggist Md Emdadul Hoque of Gariyalpara Mor said there is no supply of DNS saline and they have nothing to do if the companies (medicine manufactures) don't supply it as per their demand.
Quoting the medicine suppliers, he said production of the saline is being hampered due to the dollar crisis as raw materials are to be imported from abroad in exchange for dollars. Civil Surgeon Dr Md Majur-A-Morshed said they informed the higher authorities about the crisis considering the situation.