NAZIMUDDIN SHYAMOL
CHATTOGRAM, Apr 04: At last townspeople of Chattogram are going to get a specialised burn unit at the Chittagong Medical College Hospital (CMCH) soon as construction work of the 150-bed medical facility dedicated to comprehensive care and treatment for burn injuries has started recently.
Once the modern and specialised burn unit of international standard starts functioning, patients of Chttaogram will start getting proper high-tech treatment for burn injuries.
Director of CMCH Brigadier General Taslimuddin Ahmed said that construction work of the specialised burn unit at Chattogram's top public medical college hospital has already begun.
Professor Dr Mohammed JashimUddin, principal of Chittagong Medical College (CMC), told The Financial Express, "Chattogram is an industrial zone of the country and there occur many fire incidents. Consequently the international standard and modern 150-bed specialised burn unit at CMCH will help the people get proper treatment staying in Chattagram."
Sources said the CMCH authorities had availed all necessary documents including the permission from the Department of Environment in February last while the construction work of the burn unit started in March.
In the meantime, a Chinese delegation and senior officials of the Ministry of Health visited the construction site of the burn unit.
The 'Bangladesh-China Friendship Burn Unit, Chattogram' is being constructed within the compound of CMCH in Guachi Bagan area.
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare of Bangladesh and China's Ministry of Commerce on March 31, 2023 signed an agreement to set up the 150-bed burn unit at CMCH.
Md Anwar Hossain Hawladar, secretary of the Health Services Division of the health ministry, and Yao Wen, ambassador of China to Bangladesh, signed the deal at the conference room of the health ministry.
According to the agreement, the burn unit will be set up with full support from the Chinese government.
All kinds of medical equipment and furniture required for the unit will also be provided by the Chinese government.
The burn unit will have an outdoor, indoor and emergency department, 10 ICU beds, 10 HDU beds for men, 10 HDU beds for women, and five HDU beds for children.
The construction work of the burn unit was supposed to begin in September last year. But the work was delayed due to the anti-discrimination student movement.
However, after two long years of signing the agreement, construction work of the burn unit has started recently.
The construction work of the burn unit will take two years to complete, officials concerned said.
Sources said a piece of land measuring 36,000 square feet was handed over to the Chinese team for constructing the burn unit.
The Chinese government is interested to construct the specialised burn unit in a six-storey building of 96,000 square feet having 16,000 square feet in each floor.
The unit will contain 10 ICU beds and 25 HDU bets.
The specialised burn unit will be used as a referral hospital for 50 million people of Chattogram Division for burn and plastic surgery.
The unit is expected to facilitate the treatment of burn patients from nine districts of Chattogram division, which is home to some 50 million people.
Currently, they largely depend on the 26-bed burn unit of the CMCH.
The specialised burn unit will have infection control measures, dedicated operation theatres and ICUs, which, in conjunction, will be able to provide international-quality services.
The Development Project Proposal (DPP) for construction of the burn unit was approved in a meeting of the Executive Committee of National Economic Council (ECNEC) held in the capital on May last year.
Earlier in January last year, the DPP has been approved in the pre-ECNEC meeting. According to the DPP, China will provide 118 million yuan (around Tk1.8 billoin) and the government will give Tk512.2 million for completion of the project.
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