While the nation continues to be swept up by World Cup fever, we must make sure not to turn our attention from the deadly measles outbreak that continues to take lives - most of them very young - unabated. On Thursday, the total number of fatalities touched the devil's number, 666 (counting both suspected and confirmed cases, as advised by the National Immunization Technical Advisory Group and the National Verification Committee).
It is a sobering reminder of how manageable disease has run riot thanks to gaps in routine immunisation programs adding up over the years, compounded by the holdover of a special 'catch-up' campaign,that was finally held after the outbreak had already spread to some 58 out of the country's 64 districts. The government continues to resist the declaration of a public health emergency, having put much store by the vaccination campaign that started in early April. Based on that, we were told to expect a notable climbdown in the number of daily cases by June. But case numbers have shown no consistent decline.
One of the things the declaration of a public health emergency, or PHE, would have ensured a national clinical management protocol for physicians to deal with the plethora of measles patients they're having to deal with on a daily basis. During outbreaks that have the potential to overwhelm fragile public health systems like we have in Bangladesh, they enable physicians to make informed decisions.
Recently, the country has seemingly turned into a nightmare for children in need of care and protection. We witnessed the unspeakable case of Ad Din Medical College and Hospital, where the day before Eid Ul Azha, six perfectly healthy newborn babies aged between one to four days passed away within hours of each other at one of their post-operative wards where babies are kept with their mothers. Health Minister Sardar Md. Sakhawat Husain, in this case, has put his foot down on the need for tough action, and following an investigation, a decision came from the Directorate General of Health Services, or DGHS, to revoke the hospital's license.
Although this generated some suspiciously politically-charged backlash, the move won wide-ranging support as well, allowing the health minister to stand firm on his conviction that this kind of measure was necessary to bring "all private hospitals" into line. Although there was consternation expressed over the fate of over 400 patients who were admitted at the hospital at the time, the government took the initiative to designate six hospitals who were all instructed to take on patients referred by Ad Din. You wouldn't know it by some of the rhetoric in favour of sparing the hospital, but the revocation of its license can go down as a good example of a managed shutdown.
Since the BNP came to power, DGHS has been executing strict, nationwide drives to seal off unregistered and substandard clinics, hospitals, and diagnostic centres that proliferated under the deposed Awami League government. These are all commendable moves that deserve public support. But we do wish the health minister would turn his attention once again to tackling the measles situation. Experience shows, it is not enough to simply vaccinate people, once an outbreak has already occurred. The measles outbreak now calls for the health minister to similarly take the situation by the scruff of the neck.
