Losing a child is the worst nightmare any parent can have. The incalculable pain and grief of such a loss is even more compounded by the knowledge that it could have been prevented. At around 8 pm on February 20, parents of Ahnaf Tahmin Ayham (10) took him to JS Diagnostic and Medical Checkup Centre for circumcision in the capital's Malibagh area.
Male circumcision is a religious ritual performed amid great enthusiasm and festivity. In earlier days, and in many rural areas today, circumcision was and is performed by the Hazam. Hazams have been performing circumcision without any form of anesthesia from time immemorial, passing down their skill
throughout the ages from father to son. Of late, however, most parents have opted to have it done by a doctor or a nurse who generally administers a local anesthesia to make the procedure less painful.
Ayham's parents had taken him to the healthcare facility trusting he would receive expert care. His father, however, became greatly concerned when the doctor prescribed administering full anesthesia to perform the circumcision. He had already come to know that while administering general anesthesia at another hospital, just 40 days before, a five-year-old child named Ayaan - also undergoing a circumcision operation - had allegedly resulted in his death. His concern for the well-being of his son escalated to the point where he tried to prevent Ayham from being administered the anesthesia. As Ayham was being taken to the operating theatre, his father pleaded with the doctor and the surgeon not to administer full anesthesia.
Shockingly, both the doctor and surgeon ignored the father's pleas, went ahead and administered the general anesthesia, and performed the surgery. And that was it. The ten-year-old never regained consciousness and died.
This tragic end to life of a young boy is the latest example of the horrific price people are paying for the carelessness of a section of medical professionals and systematic mismanagement of the healthcare sector. Every day, countless people across the country, like Ayham's parents, entrust their loved ones into the care of doctors and hospitals, thinking they would receive good care and treatment. All too often, this fundamental expectation is tragically betrayed, resulting in horrific consequences of medical malpractice, negligence, and greed. While the possibility of human error can never be eliminated, and healthcare providers do make mistakes, the current landscape, however, paints a gruesome picture. Confidence of the people in the healthcare system is at an all-time low due to the mercenary attitudes of some physicians, malpractice, non-professional and irresponsible behavior, and overall mismanagement of the sector.
Soon after Ayham's death, the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) discovered the diagnostic centre had no licence to operate as a hospital! One cannot help but wonder how it was allowed to function as a hospital all these years. Why didn't the authorities concerned stop it or was that, too, interwoven in the brown-envelope kickback corruption system? Regrettably, it is not a stray incident. From time to time news reports reveal the existence of hundreds of such fake hospitals and equally fake doctors operating across the country. Through their fraudulent acts they're known to have killed people in the name of healing them.
Ayham's grief-stricken father is now pleading for justice. He filed a case with the Hatirjheel Police Station, and the two doctors - SM Muktadir and Mahbub Morshed - in connection with the case have been arrested. The grief-stricken family is struggling to come to terms with their great loss. Ayham was a bright, healthy and well-behaved lad. As a fourth grader at Motijheel Ideal School and College, he was studious, used to love sports, and was beloved by family and friends. The tragedy has devastated his family, friends and near and dear ones, who were preparing to celebrate his circumcision ceremony.
The incident should not go unchecked and those involved in the wrongdoing should be brought to book and given exemplary punishment to send a stern warning to all others engaged in illegal medical practices of similar kind.
The deaths of Ayham and Ayaan have cast a shadow on the healthcare system that has been in shambles for years. How many more young innocent lives must be lost before appropriate action is taken to heal the ills of the healthcare sector?
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