Bangladesh:Health rights activists demand health minister’s resignation
Bangladesh health minister Zahid Maleque
Health rights activists on Wednesday demanded resignation of health minister Zahid Maleque for his failure to fight against COVID-19.
Addressing a co-memorisation programme for all physicians, nurses and health workers died of COVID-19, they said that the authorities failed to address the COVID-19 crisis.
Doctors’ Platform for People’s Health organised the programme at the Central Shaheed Minar in the capital.
DPPH convenor Rashid-e-Mahbub said that the infection of novel coronavirus was increasing in the country and getting treatment would be tough for the common people.
Rashid, also former president of Bangladesh Medical Association, said that quality health service would not be possible with poor allocation.
Janaastha Sangram Parishad convenor Faizul Hakim Lala said that the governments had been ignoring the health sector for the last 50 years.
During the programme, the DPPH placed some demands, including resignation of the health minister and the punishment of the former health secretary, former director general of Directorate General of Health Services and former director of Institute of the Epidemiology Disease Control and Research for various corruptions in the health sector, including providing sub-standard personal protective equipment for the health service providers.
It urged the government to observe a day nationally as ‘mourning day’ dedicated to the health service providers who died of COVID-19, besides compensating the families of the health service providers.
It demanded that job cut and salary reduction of the private sector physicians and health workers must be stopped.
It also demanded at least one lakh COVID-19 RT-PCR test every day and enough number of antigen and antibody test.
Among others, DPPH member secretary Shakeel Akhtar, Doctor’s for Health and Environment president M Abu Sayeed, DPPH member Harun-Ar-Rashid and DHE vice-president Fazlur Rahman spoke at the programme.
New Age
