The National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery (burn unit) under Dhaka Medical College Hospital is now under tremendous pressure due to an increasing number of patients following arson attacks during the ongoing blockade.
Brig Gen Md Mustafizur Rahman, Director of the DMCH, said with the increased pressure the burn unit was facing a severe fund constraint.
He said as the burn unit is a government project under the directorate general of health services, it is getting a lump sum budget from the donor agencies after every three months.
He said with the project assistance it is possible to bear the burn unit costs only for seven days of a month and during the rest of the month the costs are being borne by the hospital authority.
Mr Rahman said: "Every month we spend more than Tk 5.0 million (50 lakh) from the hospital fund."
"The burn unit's project status is a legal problem and that is why we cannot seek money from the government", he added.
Dr. Partha Shankar Paul, Resident Surgeon (RS) of the burn unit, said apart from regular indoor patients, now they have to provide treatment to an increased number of burn victims critically injured.
He said the problem has become acute due to an inadequate budget. The donor agency's current budget is not enough to meet the patients' daily medical and surgical requirements, he further said.
Despite the financial problem arising out of modern treatment facilities, burn patients from different parts of the country are rushing to the national institution though there are burn units in many other hospitals in and outside Dhaka.
Dr Paul said they were taking heavy workload as a total of 34 burn patients were admitted to the hospital in last ten days.
He said that two of the arson victims admitted to the burn unit died while few others were still in a critical condition.
"Though we are overburdened with work, we are trying our best to provide all the patients with proper treatment.
Dr Saidur Rahman, deputy director (hospital wing) of the directorate general of health services said: "For the specialised hospitals we do have a budget of Tk125 thousand per bed per year as MSR costs and Tk125 per day meal.
He said: "I know the problem the burn unit is faced with and we have discussions with the DMCH authority how to get more allocation from donor agencies."
He, however, said: "We have not yet received any letter from the DMCH authority for increasing project fund."
According to sources, now 504 patients are receiving treatment at the 300-bed burn unit. Doctors are facing tremendous pressure to treat all the patients, they added.
When contacted, a patient's attendant said they were getting all necessary drugs and other costly instruments from the hospital.
He said they had to purchase only a few drugs from outside.
Another attendant Md. Selim, a human hauler driver, said his relative suffered burns on the face and chest. "My relative who has been injured in a petrol bomb attack in Dhaka still remains in a critical condition."
Hospital sources said two people died from their burn injuries. The deceased were identified as Abul Kalam Hawlader and Mohammad Siddique.
A physician working at a burn ward said he was treating two patients named Piyar Ahmed and Amulya Chandra Barman.
He said Barman, a rickshaw-puller, had received more than 50 per cent of his body burnt while driving in the capital.
Piyar Ahmed, a truck driver, had 15 per cent of his body burnt. He came under the arson attack while coming to Dhaka from Laksam.
Sattar Ali, a patient's attendant, said although they were getting almost all the medicines, they were not able to buy some other medicines as per the doctors' advice.
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