Regular health checkup of a vast majority of people has remained pending as both patients and doctors do not want to risk contracting the deadly coronavirus.
Except for emergencies, people are not visiting the dentists, eye or ENT specialists, five months after the COVID-19 pandemic pummelled the country.
Periodic or routine health check-up of many diabetic, cardiac, kidney, asthma and cancer patients have almost been stalled since March.
Also, many patients with critical conditions have delayed their surgery relying on the prescribed medication by doctors.
Talking to this correspondent, doctors, health experts and a number of patients talked about the uncertainty over medical treatment during the public health emergency.
Dr Abdul Wadud Chowdhury, head of the department of cardiology at Dhaka Medical College, said unless there is any emergency, the doctors are deferring the dates of regular check-up to protect patients from being exposed to the lethal pathogen.
"We are currently attending some 20 per cent patients while discouraging the rest unless they have any serious health problem," he added.
He said as per study some 72 per cent patients are asymptomatic of this virus so it is necessary for maintaining social distancing.
Unless there is any symptom, the COVID-19 negative report is not mandatory for patients for regular check-up, he added.
Atian Nahar, a house wife in city's Central Road, said she had a date of uterus surgery on May 15, but the doctor suggested she wait for a year with medication.
"Despite some health problems, I don't want to take the risk of surgery," she said.
Golam Hossain, a heart patient in the city's Mirpur area, said he used to undergo check up every three months, but now doctors asked him to bring COVID negative certificate before doing pathological tests.
"I've preferred not to do my periodical test this year as visiting hospitals for COVID testing involves much more risks. I don't want to get exposed to other COVID patients at the age of 72," he added.
Syeedul Huq, a cancer survivor, used to do some routine tests at the BSMMU every six months, but he now prefers to wait for a few months more.
"I have talked with my doctor who also suggested me to wait for some time till the virus situation improves," he added.
Doctors said the number of patients for regular check-up has dropped by 50 per cent.
Prof Qazi Mushtaq Hussain, director of the National Institute of Cancer Research and Hospital, however, said patients have started seeking treatment.
"In May, we conducted some 38 surgeries, which went up 56 in June and 95 in July against an average of 100 surgeries a month," he said.
Mohsin Ahmed Sohel, associate professor at the National Institute of Cardiovascular diseases (NICVD) said only 5.0 per cent people are conscious while most ignore the severity of the virus.
The pace of work of doctors and medical service providers has become slower as they have to take precautionary measures to keep themselves and their patients safe from the virus contamination, he added.
"Now we can do 10 per cent of angiogram compared with normal times," he added.
He said senior doctors are avoiding chambers and providing telemedicine services and assisting their juniors.
Meanwhile, the death toll from COVID has increased again in recent times.
The number of deaths reached nearly 4,000 on Sunday since the country reported its first confirmed case on March 8.
Bangladesh has been ranked 16th among the worst-affected countries in the world in terms of the number of cases, according to Johns Hopkins University data
doulot_akter@yahoo.com