Govt is trying to find a black cat in a dark room: Dr Zafrullah

Covid-19 has not reached its peak yet. It will reach a peak this month or early next month, but the government is yet to come up with a specific plan about how to control the pandemic.

Gonoshasthaya Kendra Trustee Dr Zafrullah Chowdhury made this remark at a programme in Gonoshasthaya Nagar Hospital at Dhanmondi in Dhaka on Thursday, organised to express gratitude for Zafrullah's recovery from Covid-19 and to discuss medical expenses.

Zafrullah said the measures taken by the authorities to control the novel coronavirus were not enough. The health system in Bangladesh has already collapsed.

"The government is trying to find a black cat in a dark room as it has no specific plans to deal with the prevailing pandemic situation. The virus will spread to the marginal level soon. That's why a good health system must be ensured," he added.

About the cost of drugs in Bangladesh, Zafrullah said, "If the existing guideline of The National Drug Policy is changed, the price of drugs will be halved."

Professor Dr Brigadier General (Retd) Mamun Mostafi of Gonoshasthaya Kendra said, 80 percent of his (Zafrullah Chowdhury's) lung was affected by pneumonia, which was critical. However, he had not given consent to any treatment that is unaffordable to marginal people.

"We had a cabin ready for him at Dhaka Medical College but he refused to go there saying, 'If a patient from a village dies here, I will die too'", added Mostafi.

"If a dialysis patient gets Covid-19, no hospital in Bangladesh treats him. Gonoshasthaya Nagar Hospital has set up a fully equipped Covid-19 unit with ICU for the treatment of Covid-19 affected dialysis patients," he said further.