National Medical Institute Hospital (DNMIH), one of the oldest health service providers in old Dhaka is suffering for low government allocation. A large number of patients rely on this facility for almost all kinds of medical treatment. ‘Every day, around one thousand patients come for medical services at the outdoor, and during dengue outbreaks, the number is around 1500 every day. Almost all of our cabins and beds are also full regularly,’ Dr. AKM Nur Nabi, Deputy Director of the hospital told Bangladesh Post.
He said that 40 percent of the patients get medical services including food in case of admitted patients free of costs. ‘But, allocation to the hospital is lower than needed,’ he said. The autonomously-governed hospital is allocated Tk nine crore annually from the government whereas its demand is 15 crore, the deputy director said.
Professor Brigadier General (rtd) Dr. Iffat Ara was on an official visit outside the hospital, so she could not make any comment. Sources said, the large number of people from different areas including Sadarghat, Bangla Bazar, Johnson Road, Laxmibazar, Shakharibazar, Rayshaheb bazar, Patuatuli, Sutrapur, Ekrampur, Gandaria, and a large portion from the other bank of the Buriganga river in Keranigonj upazila are mostly dependent on the hospital for medical treatment. The 354-bed hospital is situated at Johnson Road in old Dhaka.
It has 48 cabins, two X-ray machines, but no CT scan or MRI equipment as yet. Doctors from the hospital said most of the patients who come to get health services from the hospital are poor. So, such medical equipment is seriously needed. The hospital has 129 doctors and 113 nurses.
Officials of the hospital said, it needs about 60 nurses more, but does not since long, due to shortages in allocation of money. When contacted, Md. Asadul Islam, Secretary of the ministry of health and family welfare, told Bangladesh Post, “An application of the DNMIH has been submitted to the ministry to increase its allocations.”
The secretary said that they would re-assess the allotment for the hospital after scrutinising the matter properly. On Thursday, it was found that hundreds of patients and their attendants were gathered at the hospital for treatment. Sumona, an attendant of a gallbladder stone patient said, they come to the hospital frequently for medical treatment of different relatives.
“We are happy with the treatment here,” Sumona said. Most other patients and their relatives also expressed similar happiness about the medical treatment at the hospital. Nevertheless, one of the attendants of a critically sick female said that the patient had not recovered and was being transferred to another hospital.
The DNMIH was established in 1925 as a part of the non-cooperation movement in the Indian subcontinent against British colonial rule, and organized jointly by the Indian National Congress and the Muslim League. In 1971, during the Liberation War of Bangladesh, Dhaka National Medical Institute Hospital was a safe shelter for Freedom Fighters.
Just after the liberation of Bangladesh, the hospital was on the verge of collapse due to financial crisis and absence of any Administrative Body as the previous governing body and the trustee board of the Institute were almost absent. Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman government then formed an administrative body and granted money to operate the hospital.
A rule made by the government for the DNMIH stated that a Management Board, formed every three years, formed for every three years, would run it. A yearly financial grant was also to be allocated for the hospital according to its need as assessed by the ministry Health and Family Welfare, as per rule.
