The death of a child due to the unavailability of an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) is nothing less than an utter failure of the state healthcare system.
Every day, news headlines report cases of children contracting measles and dying because of the lack of ICU facilities. Yet, even after all this, we remain indifferent.
Even though there is no shortage of measles vaccines, why are children still contracting measles every day? And even when children become infected with measles, why should they die without treatment or due to negligence?
A report published in The Ittefaq yesterday stated that children are losing their lives simply while searching for an ICU bed! An international study has found that 71 percent of the children who recently died of measles did not receive ICU care even at their final moments.
It is deeply unfortunate that major hospitals, including Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital in the capital, do not have Pediatric Intensive Care Units (PICUs). If that is the situation, where will children from poor families go?
Accessing such services at private hospitals is simply beyond their financial means. Can we accept such tragic deaths of children who are brought to the capital in their final moments in the hope of receiving intensive care?
It is difficult for any conscientious and compassionate person to accept the deplorable state of our current healthcare system. Can we imagine that only three government hospitals in the capital have PICU facilities?
These are Dhaka Medical College Hospital, Bangladesh Shishu Hospital and Institute, and Matuail Institute of Child and Mother Health. Moreover, even the hospitals that provide PICU services have very few beds.
In other words, not only must the number of hospitals equipped with these facilities be increased, but the number of beds must also be expanded.
According to statistics, the total number of PICU beds in three government and semi-government hospitals in Dhaka city is only 43. On the other hand, there are 25 major general and specialized hospitals in the capital.
Therefore, increasing ICU facilities for children in all these hospitals is absolutely essential. It is worth mentioning that the intensive care unit for newborns up to 28 days old is known as a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU).
Meanwhile, children from one month of age up to approximately 12 years, or those weighing less than 50 kilograms, generally require a Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU).
Across the country, there are 3,000 ICU beds in public and private hospitals. Of these, approximately 25 percent are allocated to NICUs, while only 3 percent are designated for PICUs.
This means that ICU facilities for children are extremely inadequate compared to those available for adults. We fail to understand what wrong children have done to deserve such neglect. Therefore, visible improvements in this sector are urgently needed.
At present, the deplorable condition of healthcare services and the collapse of the medical system in our society have reached such an alarming stage that even the fundamental right of ordinary people to survive is under serious threat.
In this situation, we have all but forgotten about children. Due to the absence of appropriate PICU facilities and the lack of sufficient financial resources to seek treatment elsewhere, many helpless children are dying inside ambulances!
Their tragic deaths are not merely isolated incidents; rather, they stand as living evidence of the structural weaknesses and extreme negligence within our country's healthcare system.
The Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) has, of course, announced initiatives to establish new children's hospitals in divisional cities and increase the number of beds.
However, the question remains: How many more innocent lives must be lost prematurely as victims of these delays and poor planning?
The healthcare system's excessive concentration in the capital, coupled with the lack of modern pediatric medical services at district and divisional levels, is making the situation increasingly complicated.
Therefore, mere assurances and promises will not suffice. Standard PICU and NICU facilities with adequate beds must be ensured immediately at every government medical college hospital and district-level general hospital across the country.
In addition, effective arrangements must be made to ensure that emergency medical services are available completely free of charge or at affordable rates for poor and marginalized families.
