FROM PAGE 3

more hospital beds in their constituencies.

Health Minister Sardar Md Sakhawat Husain responded by saying the 300-bed General Hospital near Siddhirganj is already being upgraded to 500 beds, and Victoria General Hospital is also nearby.

He assured that the government may consider new hospitals in the future if necessary.

Following this, Mannan expressed his intent to withdraw the proposal. That was later withdrawn via voice vote with the speaker’s permission.

Earlier, Rajshahi-4 MP Abdul Bari Sarder said in his constituency, there is only one health complex serving around 400,000 people. It was upgraded to a 50-bed hospital in 2014.

He said he personally witnessed three doctors sharing a single room to provide healthcare services.

He added that the upazila health complex has one ambulance, but no driver. Consequently, when critically ill patients need to be taken to the district headquarters hospital -- 50 kilometres away -- they suffer greatly, and in many cases die before reaching the hospital.

Bagerhat-2 MP Shaikh Monzurul Haque said his district has a population of two million.

Each upazila health complex is in a dilapidated condition, so people flock to the Bagerhat Sadar Hospital for treatment, he added.

“I wish to describe the condition of the Sadar hospital to draw the attention of the health minister,” Monzurul said.

He said the hospital was upgraded to 250 beds in 2021. New posts were created for the upgraded facility in 2022. “There is a severe shortage of manpower. Of 10 senior consultant posts, eight are vacant. Of 16 junior consultant posts, 11 are vacant. Out of 57 doctor posts, 42 remain vacant.”

“A 10-bed ICU was established here, but from the very day of its inauguration, it has remained closed and unused. It serves no purpose. I therefore call upon the health minister to urgently address this crisis and provide relief from this situation,” the Bagerhat-2 MP said.