MINTU DESHWARA, Moulvibazar

The Health and Family Welfare Centre in Chaumuhani Union under Madhabpur Upazila, Habiganj, has been facing a severe manpower shortage, making it unable to provide adequate health services to around 40,000 residents.

At present, the centre operates with only one family welfare inspector, Roksana Akhter, who struggles to manage the overwhelming number of patients.

“A lot of patients come here daily, but I cannot provide services to all of them alone. On days when a patient comes for child delivery, I hardly manage to speak to another patient. I need at least one more person to assist me in child delivery,” said Roksana Akhter.

This problem is not unique to Chaumuhani. Across Habiganj district, there are 52 Union Health and Family Welfare Centres, most of which are running with only one or two staff members, despite government rules stating that each centre should have at least 10 personnel.

These centres play a crucial role in promoting normal childbirth, an important alternative to the rising number of C-section deliveries encouraged by private clinics.

In 2022, the health centres collectively performed 8,737 normal deliveries, which increased slightly to 8,816 in 2023. However, this year’s total so far, 2,161, reflects the limitations imposed by inadequate staffing.

Officials believe the numbers could be significantly higher if the centres were properly staffed.

Ali Hossain, a resident of Chaumuhani, said, “We are getting free medical services here. However, due to the shortage of manpower, services are not always available. There is no doctor here. There is only a female health inspector in charge of the centre. How much can she do all alone? Also, most of the time there is no medicine in the centre.”

Similar issues are evident in other unions like Pail and Lukra. Nurjahan Begum, a family welfare inspector at Pail, said emphasized the difficulty of handling delivery patients without additional staff, while Monihar Begum, a patient in Lukra, reported being unable to receive necessary calcium supplements.

Sirajul Islam, deputy director (acting) of the District Family Planning Office in Habiganj, said, “We are trying to provide services with the limited manpower we have. However, it is true that more manpower is essential to improve our service quality.”

“A circular was issued recently, but due to the current political situation, the recruitment process has been suspended. As a result, the recruitment of new manpower got stalled for the time being. The ministry must take prompt initiatives to recruit more staffers to mitigate the crises,” he added.