Enhance CMCH burn unit capabilities

Burn victims belonging to the Chittagong division, which includes the districts of Chittagong, Cox's Bazar, Rangamati, Khagrachchari, Bandarban, Feni, Noakhali and Lakkhipur, have only one destination for treatment, i.e. the Chittagong Medical College Hospital's (CMCH) Burn Unit. So when this vital medical unit is understaffed and lacking in facilities to properly treat patients, it is the public who must suffer. Burn victims require specialised care and care that cannot be put off. Now the CMCH unit is a 26-bed facility, which on average gets around 60 patients a day seeking treatment. Hence, we have patients who are admitted to the facility but are not given beds and thus we have patients camped on the floors of the unit, which is a direct violation of the guidelines that govern how a burn patient is to be treated.

We fail to see why such an emergency unit is being deprived of manpower and logistics support, why basic facilities like changing and dressing of babies and children are missing, and why there is only one operating theatre for those needing surgery! Unfortunately, it would appear that public hospitals make no distinction between emergency units and the general wards and the natural state of rundown services, which is now fast becoming synonymous with government-run medical institutions, is also applicable at the CMCH. We are informed that the government intends to build an independent hospital for burn victims under the CMCH. Given our slow rate of construction and commissioning of such institutions, we can only appeal to the ministry to transform the burn unit into a functional unit while such construction is underway.