PM for setting up cardiology unit with every govt hospital

FE Team | Published: August 12, 2009 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00

Prime Minister (PM) Sheikh Hasina said every medical college hospital and public hospitals of the country should have a cardiology unit with surgical facilities, as cardiologists said 73 per cent of the population lives with the risk of cardiac diseases, reports UNB.
She made the remark when a delegation of Bangladesh Cardiac Society called on her at the PM's Office Tuesday, when overall situation of the country's healthcare sector came up for discussion.
The PM also underscored the need for introducing cardiology department at the National Children's Hospital (Shishu Haspatal).
She asked the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (NICVD) and the authorities of medical colleges to formulate specific project papers for setting up cardiology units and send those to the authorities concerned.
"Send us the project papers and the government will take every necessary step to set up cardiology units up to the periphery levels," she said.
Sheikh Hasina said the government would take measures to set up cardiology units outside the capital city, but, at the same time, the doctors will have to be sincere about the imperative for working in the rural areas.
Taking into account a huge pressure on the few hospitals equipped with cardiac surgery facilities in the capital and the traffic congestion in the city, the PM said extended units of NICVD could be set up at the entry points of Dhaka.
The PM said the previous AL government had withdrawn taxes on many items of medical equipment which had helped enormously in modernising the country's medical sector.
"But," she deplored, "after that no mentionable development took place as the subsequent government showed indifference towards health sector."
The Cardiac Society placed 10-point suggestions before the PM aiming at ensuring proper cardiac treatment for the people as the physicians said some 73 per cent of total population lives with the risk of cardiac diseases.
The suggestions include setting up full-fledged cardiology and cardiac surgery department in every medical college, creation of posts of senior and junior consultant to set up cardiology units in all district hospitals, setting up separate cardiology hospitals in the divisional headquarters.