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Lack of facilities adding
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11 days hail from the capital.
However, analysing the DGHS data based on the addresses of the deceased, 101 out of 132 deceased dengue patients during this time came from outside Dhaka.
At least 12 dengue patients died in the last 24 hours till yesterday morning, eight of whom were from outside Dhaka.
With the figures, the total number of dengue deaths this year rose to 646. Of them, 468 died in Dhaka. With 2,823 new dengue cases during this period, the total number of cases rose to 1,33,134. Of them, 61,489 of whom are from outside Dhaka.
HM Nazmul Ahsan, associate professor at Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital, said there should be better treatment and management facilities outside Dhaka.
“It takes several hours for a patient to reach the capital, and during this time, he does not get enough fluid supply. Thus, many patients collapse even before they are admitted to hospitals,” he mentioned.
Such patients have lower chances of survival as they might suffer a decompensated shock, which reduces their chances of recovery by 50 percent. A patient with decompensated shock syndrome may die within a few minutes to one hour, he added.
Nazmul advised the authorities to improve dengue management systems outside the capital to lower casualties.
Mushtuq Hussain, consultant at the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research attributed the higher number of deaths outside Dhaka to the lack of access to testing services and adequate treatment in rural areas.
There is no dengue testing service at the upazila health complexes. Besides, people in villages do not have any access to testing facilities near their residences and come to the facilities after it is too late. This results in delayed hospitalisation and deaths, he mentioned.
“We often see the authorities blaming the people for their lack of awareness. However, this is a very vague remark and looks like they are attempting to evade responsibility towards their people,” he added.

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Sangsad Speaker Dr Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury in the chair. In response to a question from AL MP Kazim Uddin Ahmed, the railways minister stated 851 kilometers of new railways have been constructed during the tenure of the current government.
Besides, the government completed the construction of 1,14 new railway bridges, the reconstruction of 952 railway bridges, the construction of 132 station buildings, the renovation of 231 buildings, the conversion of 340 km of railway tracks to dual gauge, and the reconstruction of 1,379 km of railway tracks, he added.
In response to another question asked by AL MP Mamunur Rashid, the railways minister said that a feasibility study project has been undertaken to start electric train service on Dhaka to Chattogram route.
He said that this survey might be completed in April next year.
Meanwhile, Road Transport and Bridge Minister Obaidul Quader told parliament that the number of motor vehicles currently registered in the country is around 57.52 lakh, while the number of issued driving licenses is 59.46 lakh.
Replying to another question, he stated that the Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) commits to unconditionally reducing 3.4 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions from the transportation sector by 2030.
“At least 30% of vehicles used in the road transport sector should be converted to electric category within that time frame,” he added.
Noting that the use of electric vehicles is gradually increasing in Bangladesh, as it is in the rest of the world, the minister stated that, while the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) operation will begin with diesel-powered buses, the BRT will be gradually expanded to include as many electric-powered buses as possible in order to cut emissions.