Moeen favours utilising Haji Camp as temporary hospital
Monday, 13 August 2007
Chief of Army Staff General Moeen U Ahmed Sunday proposed utilisation of the Haji Camp as a 'temporary health centre' in the backdrop of the growing number of diarrhoea patients, who are largely rushing to ICDDR,B to get rid of the water-borne disease, reports BSS.
"The ICDDR'B is already overburdened with nearly 1,000 diarrhoea patients with new admission everyday. So, we are planning to utilise the Haji Camp as a temporary hospital and open up the Combined Military Hospital (CMH) for the treatment of flood victims," he said after visiting the crowded ICDDR,B known as Cholera Hospital at Mohakhali Sunday afternoon.
General Moeen, who denied army's involvement in direct politics, also reiterated that Bangladesh armed forces had no intention to take state power. In this context he quoted a famous line from Rabindranath Tagore's short story and said "Kadombini Moria Proman Korilo, shey morre nai."
"I have already told you at the beginning that Army will not grab power. Today, once again I tell you, we are not going to take power," he told newsmen responding to their direct question whether he has any political ambition. " It's not the time to do politics for the politicians even. It's now the time for serving the nation," he added.
General Moeen, who also visited flood-hit areas in sub-urban Demra Saturday, said the CMH would be opened for treatment from Sunday and the Haji camp hopefully by today (Monday). He also said Bangladesh Army and ICDDR,B would find a joint agenda to share the burden of patients and provide better health services to flood-afflicted people.
He said the army would provide all necessary support to ICDDR,B, which requires more hospital beds, intravenous fluids, ambulance facilities and additional manpower to tackle the situation. The General also made a directive to keep two ambulances stand-by at the centre so that the people can get prompt service.
General Moeen talked to the diarrhoea affected people at the ICDDR,B and asked attending guardians and people in general to drink boiled and purified water to prevent diarrhoea and other intestinal disorders.
Executive Director of ICDDR,B Dr Alejandro Cravioto, who received the four-star General, said they have been receiving five times higher the patients they normally treat at the centre, which provides health service to nearly 200 people during endemic situation and more than 110,000 people round the year as a complementary to its research programmes.
"I have not seen such a situation since my joining the centre," said the Mexico-born scientist, who took his office two months back as the chief of ICDDR,B, the world renowned centre for health and population research and pioneer of oral rehydration saline (ORS). The ORS alone saved 40 million lives since its commercial marketing in mid seventies, according to a statistics of the World Health Organisation (WHO).
A scientist of ICDDR,B told the news agency that the number of patients has been growing in such a way where the centre has to ask for additional IV fluid and rice-made special ORS in next three days to treat people. "You see, we are getting patient non stop," said a registrar at the makeshift extension of the centre's diarrhoea treatment unit.
Head of Nutrition of ICDDR,B Dr Tahmeed Ahmed welcomed the idea of using Haji Camp as a temporary hospital and said this would ensure quick service, reducing distance barrier and financial constraints of the sick people from areas of Tongi, Gazipur and Joydebpur.
He said the joint programme between army and the centre would also help army medical team to get expertise from ICDDR,B to manage diarrhoea in the future.
So far six people have died at ICDDR,B due to diarrhoea, but the centre claims only one casualty since the flood has hit the country. The rest of the five persons have died on way to the centre, although their deaths were confirmed at ICDDR,B upon arrival of the bodies, said an official of the centre.
"The ICDDR'B is already overburdened with nearly 1,000 diarrhoea patients with new admission everyday. So, we are planning to utilise the Haji Camp as a temporary hospital and open up the Combined Military Hospital (CMH) for the treatment of flood victims," he said after visiting the crowded ICDDR,B known as Cholera Hospital at Mohakhali Sunday afternoon.
General Moeen, who denied army's involvement in direct politics, also reiterated that Bangladesh armed forces had no intention to take state power. In this context he quoted a famous line from Rabindranath Tagore's short story and said "Kadombini Moria Proman Korilo, shey morre nai."
"I have already told you at the beginning that Army will not grab power. Today, once again I tell you, we are not going to take power," he told newsmen responding to their direct question whether he has any political ambition. " It's not the time to do politics for the politicians even. It's now the time for serving the nation," he added.
General Moeen, who also visited flood-hit areas in sub-urban Demra Saturday, said the CMH would be opened for treatment from Sunday and the Haji camp hopefully by today (Monday). He also said Bangladesh Army and ICDDR,B would find a joint agenda to share the burden of patients and provide better health services to flood-afflicted people.
He said the army would provide all necessary support to ICDDR,B, which requires more hospital beds, intravenous fluids, ambulance facilities and additional manpower to tackle the situation. The General also made a directive to keep two ambulances stand-by at the centre so that the people can get prompt service.
General Moeen talked to the diarrhoea affected people at the ICDDR,B and asked attending guardians and people in general to drink boiled and purified water to prevent diarrhoea and other intestinal disorders.
Executive Director of ICDDR,B Dr Alejandro Cravioto, who received the four-star General, said they have been receiving five times higher the patients they normally treat at the centre, which provides health service to nearly 200 people during endemic situation and more than 110,000 people round the year as a complementary to its research programmes.
"I have not seen such a situation since my joining the centre," said the Mexico-born scientist, who took his office two months back as the chief of ICDDR,B, the world renowned centre for health and population research and pioneer of oral rehydration saline (ORS). The ORS alone saved 40 million lives since its commercial marketing in mid seventies, according to a statistics of the World Health Organisation (WHO).
A scientist of ICDDR,B told the news agency that the number of patients has been growing in such a way where the centre has to ask for additional IV fluid and rice-made special ORS in next three days to treat people. "You see, we are getting patient non stop," said a registrar at the makeshift extension of the centre's diarrhoea treatment unit.
Head of Nutrition of ICDDR,B Dr Tahmeed Ahmed welcomed the idea of using Haji Camp as a temporary hospital and said this would ensure quick service, reducing distance barrier and financial constraints of the sick people from areas of Tongi, Gazipur and Joydebpur.
He said the joint programme between army and the centre would also help army medical team to get expertise from ICDDR,B to manage diarrhoea in the future.
So far six people have died at ICDDR,B due to diarrhoea, but the centre claims only one casualty since the flood has hit the country. The rest of the five persons have died on way to the centre, although their deaths were confirmed at ICDDR,B upon arrival of the bodies, said an official of the centre.