IT IS unacceptable that half of the intensive care capacity has remained unused, rendering the post-Covid expansion unsuccessful. During and after the Covid outbreak, the authorities undertook a project to expand the intensive care capacity, nearly tripling it. The country now has 1,372 ICU beds in 72 public facilities, almost three times the pre-Covid total of 498, alongside 1,054 CCU beds. Although this was meant to be a defining step towards a stronger healthcare system, the expansion has remained ineffectual. More than half of these ICU beds lie idle, crippled by acute human resource shortages, poor maintenance and technical failures. This reflects a failure of planning and implementation. The fact that infrastructure without operational capacity is nothing but an illusion of progress has become even more evident amid the ongoing measles outbreak, which has left at least 156 children dead and over 17,000 infected since March 15. Dozens of children died of measles while they waited for ICU facilities. The tragedy at Rajshahi Medical College Hospital, where 229 patients, including 91 children, died in a single month while waiting for ICU care, underscores the human cost of the failure to make ICUs operational.
The pattern of waste and neglect is both nationwide and systemic. In the Rajshahi division, only about 50 of 94 installed ICU beds are operational. At Infectious Diseases Hospital in Dhaka, a 10-bed ICU lay unused for years until a child’s death forced its emergency activation. In Bhola, a six-bed ICU has never been used. In Tangail, a 10-bed unit has remained idle for more than a year. And in Munshiganj, equipment remains unboxed. Even in specialised institutions such as the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases, critical care gaps persist. The absence of long-term workforce planning and sustainable financing reflects a deep structural weakness. The World Bank-funded pandemic project delivered equipment but failed to ensure trained physicians, nurses and technicians. When temporary staffing ended in 2025, services collapsed in most facilities. Meanwhile, over half of all ICU beds are concentrated in Dhaka, leaving vast regions underserved and forcing critically ill patients to travel long distances, often with fatal consequences. The dire state of intensive care capacity in public healthcare facilities has left most patients helpless as they cannot afford private ICUs. In such a situation, the government’s recent announcement of inaugurating 13 new ICU facilities, with over 100 beds, offers little reassurance if the underlying deficiencies remain unaddressed.
The authorities must realise that expanding numbers without ensuring functionality will not solve the crisis. Health managers must, therefore, immediately invest in training and retaining specialised human resources, establish robust maintenance systems and ensure equitable distribution of resources beyond the capital. Transparent data on operational capacity must be published and accountability mechanisms enforced to prevent further waste of public funds.
