Resignation of DG a rare step in the right direction

Over the past two weeks, the rift between the health ministry and the health directorate over Regent Hospital, which has been at the centre of the Covid-19 testing scam, has dominated headlines. In the midst of the ministry and the DGHS shifting blame onto each other and attempting to evade responsibility regarding the authorisation of Regent as a dedicated Covid-19 hospital (despite its expired license), the resignation of Prof Abul Kalam Azad, the director general of the DGHS, is a step in the right direction. It is a rare instance to see an official quitting in the face of criticism, although his official resignation letter cited health grounds for stepping down.

However, the investigations into the scandals that have plagued the health sector in recent months cannot come to a stop simply because the DG has stepped down. The revelations of Regent Hospital issuing fake Covid-19 certificates and embezzling government funds, or that of JKG Health Care which conducted coronavirus tests in exchange for money without any trade license or permission to do so, are only the tip of the iceberg.

Over the past few weeks, various reports in this paper have revealed the ineptitude of our health authorities in dealing with the pandemic, as well as the overall mismanagement and corruption plaguing our health sector—fake N95 masks being provided to medical personnel at BSMMU; unauthorised Covid-19 tests and forged reports from other institutions; more than five lakh Covid-19 testing kits lying in the warehouses of several companies in the capital instead of being delivered to testing centres; contractors who had misappropriated over Tk 100 crore from various government medical colleges and hospitals being blacklisted only recently, despite being under investigation for a much longer period; and the almost unbelievable statistics showing that two-thirds of the country's private clinics and diagnostic centres are operating without valid licences since 2018. 

All of these reports show that arresting those responsible after certain crimes are exposed, or stepping down as a show of accountability, are not enough to deal with these problems. The bureaucratic deadweight at the heart of the health ministry and health directorate, not to mention the corruption, mismanagement and inefficiencies, require radical reforms. Going after a few individuals and officials, without dismantling the system that enables and sustains them, will never uproot corruption and mismanagement from the health sector.