Health Minister vows to make all govt hospitals broker-free

Health and Family Welfare Minister Sardar Md Sakhawat Husain on Friday vowed to make every government hospital in the country free of brokers.

He made the remarks while briefing journalists after inspecting Sylhet MAG Osmani Medical College Hospital, the 250-bed District Hospital and Shaheed Shamsuddin Ahmad Hospital in Sylhet.

Commerce Minister Khandakar Abdul Muktadir was present at the briefing.

The health minister also directed the authorities concerned to resolve all drainage and cleanliness problems at hospitals in Sylhet within seven days.

He said a syndicate lures patients to private clinics with false promises.

Sakhawat said all law enforcement agencies, including the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI) and Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), are working together to identify and curb such broker syndicates. “Their activities have already been reduced.”

Regarding the ongoing drive against illegal clinics and fake doctors, he said mobile courts are being conducted regularly in the districts through deputy commissioners and civil surgeons, with illegal establishments being fined and sealed off.

The minister said clinics providing medical services, including surgeries, through unauthorised doctors and technicians holding fake certificates are also being sealed off.

He said he is personally collecting lists of such establishments and supervising the drives against them.

Asked about doctors’ attendance at hospitals, Sakhawat said he has visited more than 25 hospitals over the past month and found doctors fully present.

He added that patients have also reported improvements in doctors’ behaviour and the quality of food served at hospitals.

On the measles outbreak, the minister said the number of unvaccinated children in the country has increased as regular measles vaccination campaigns were not held for a long time after December 2020, resulting in the spread of the disease.

He said some children who became eligible for vaccination after the campaign, as well as those who missed vaccination on time due to lack of awareness, remained unvaccinated, allowing measles to spread among them.

Sakhawat said vaccination activities are continuing with adequate vaccines brought in with support from the World Bank and UNICEF.