Monthly Archives: May 2014

Dhaka and its unbearable traffic

May 28, 2014

Tanvir Raquib

Dhaka and its unbearable traffic

May 27, 2014

trafficLife in Dhaka can be unbearable due to constant traffic jam on almost every road and street. Everyday we are becoming less productive due to the time we spend on the road, not even mentioning the money wasted on fuel and CNG. During my recent visit to Seoul, the capital of South Korea, I noticed Seoul also has high-rise office buildings and apartments just like in Dhaka but the difference is I did not feel suffocated in Seoul. In Korea one out of three citizens has a car. The situation brings big pressure on the city traffic but I was not feeling it at all unlike what we experience in Dhaka.

As Seoul makes greater efforts in developing its public transportation system, rush-hour traffic jams is becoming a thing of the past. Mass Transport System and Taxi cabs are so efficient that people are encouraged to use buses and taxis (occasionally). The public transportation (buses) can be much faster than the cars because roads have dedicated lane for the buses.

Here is what MrOh Se-Hoon, the Mayor of South Korea, said.

“Constructing more roads doesn’t work in dealing with the traffic problems, developing public transportation is the only solution.”

According to the Mayor, the city has put more efforts in improving the buses compared with extending the subway. The bus routes cover almost every street. There are designated bus lanes. During rush hour, people save time traveling by bus.

The Seoul city started to improve its public transportation since 2004, with an investment of USD 100 million. Between the bus system and the subway, Seoul opted for the bus system as the urgent priority, because greater impact of the bus system is evident with the same amount of investment.

Lee Manki from the Seoul Transport Operation and Information Service Center says it costs USD 80 million to construct every 100 meters of subway. They have, however only spent USD 100 million on the bus system over the past six years, but have seen very effective result in reducing traffic jam to a tolerable level.

He says, the Transport Operation and Information Service Center can monitor more than 700 traffic cameras in Seoul. If any traffic accident occurs, police and ambulance will be deployed at the site in three minutes. Moreover, about 8,000 buses in the city have been equipped with GPS, so that the speed of these buses can be monitored in real time. With this data, the center can adjust the traffic lights in accordance with the traffic flow.

Apart from these efforts, the city has taken other measures to improve traffic. To encourage more young people to commute by bus, many bus cards are made into the shape of cartoon figures.

If people do not want to use this bus card, they can pay for the bus tickets with their credit cards. Here is Oh Se-Hoon again:

“What Seoul has been doing is to extend the public transportation system, including buses and subway. The prices of Mass Transportation System are very low. With only 1 US dollar, people can travel around the Central Business District area in the city, and this is the lowest price among all the countries of the developed world.”Although traffic police can be rarely seen on the road, most drivers insist on obeying the traffic rules, since nearly all roads are under surveillance by cameras. Offices use car lift parking system to complement the large parking lots. On the road I did not see even a single illegally parked vehicle.

What can we learn from this effective model in Seoul to solve our own unbearable traffic problem?

1. All commercial and private apartment buildings should use car lift system for maximum utilisation of the space. Instead of using the traditional basement car park system, if a car lift system is used, the number of car spaces can be doubled or tripled.

2. Large 1000 car multistory car parks have to be constructed in: Gulshan-1 (at least 1), Gulshan-2 (at least 1), Banani (at least 1), Dhanmondi (at least 3), Mirpur (at least 3), Uttara (at least 3) Elephant Road (at least 1), New Market (at least 1), Shahbagh (at least 1), Moghbazar (at least 1), Motijheel (at least 2)

3. Dhaka Metropolitan City has to be brought under surveillance system. Any car parked illegally has to get an automatic ticket when the surveillance camera will detect a car parked on any street. The software system will issue the ticket automatically without any human involvement.

4. New light weight buses made by Daewoo, TATA and other companies should be allowed within the Dhaka Metropolitan City. The heavy buses which have a huge luggage compartment in the belly should not be allowed to plough within the Dhaka Metropolitan City. And number of new buses should be increased by thousands through Public-Private Partnership initiative and all the old buses have to be taken out from the road.

5. All bus drivers should have at least 10 years of driving experience and clean driving record. At least 25% of the bus drivers have to be women.

6.  Illegally parked cars on any street have to be towed. Proceeds earned from the illegally parked vehicles should be spent on keeping the footpath clean.

7. The traffic control system should be fully automated and monitored 24X7 to avoid traffic violation and smooth traffic flow.

8. In the long term over-passes and under-passes have to be built for uninterrupted traffic flow.

9. Scope of the Metro Rail project has to be increased manifold over the course of next two decades so that the city’s organic growth can be handled through capacity building.

We must do something before we choke our city to death.

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Tanvir Raquib is the Executive Director of Good HEAL Trust.

– See more at: http://opinion.bdnews24.com/2014/05/27/dhaka-and-its-unbearable-traffic-jam/#sthash.b61wTG1s.dpuf

Improving healthcare services in EPZs and SEZs

May 15, 2014
Improving healthcare services in EPZs and SEZs
Tanvir Raquib

With a population of 161 million people living in less than 150,000 sq. km. area, Bangladesh is the most densely-populated country in the world. The population density here stands at 1,015 people/sq. km. With the current population growth rate of 1.6 per cent, Bangladesh will be home to 250 million people by 2050.Alongside the growing population Bangladesh is experiencing a social and demographic transition with its industrialisation expanding and the income level rising. It is also exposed to globalisation. Although 71 per cent of the people reside in rural areas, rapid urbanisation (at an estimated rate of 6.0 per cent) is causing a population growth of 2.5 per cent in urban areas, with Dhaka city alone accounting for 40 per cent of the urban population. These factors have contributed to a rising prevalence of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) in the country.Inequity in Bangladesh is high: the wealthiest 5.0 per cent of the population enjoy 30.66 per cent of the national income while the poorest 5.0 per cent consume only 0.67 per cent. Over the last ten years, Bangladesh has grown quickly in terms of its economy and human development, and has significantly reduced the proportion of people living in poverty. The country is likely to achieve its related Millennium Development Goal (MDG) target by 2015. In spite of this success, 47 million people (29 per cent of the population) still live below the poverty line, with more people at risk of slipping back into poverty in the event of any unemployment, illness, or natural disaster.Better health for people means empowerment because it also empowers them to participate in economic and public life. A pro-poor health strategy is central to establishing a harmonious society. Thus, addressing health inequities is a moral obligation. But it is also essential in view of the self-interest in the global arena.Currently 75 per cent of our health care budget is allocated for treatment of chronic diseases such as heart ailment, diabetes and hypertension. Apart from the treatment costs, the chronic diseases have other implications: more than a half of Bangladeshi people suffer from one or more chronic diseases every year, making them the leading causes of death and disability.Chronic diseases affect everyone and the number of people living with chronic diseases is expected to increase over the next decade. The first step toward preventing and treating chronic diseases is education and management.  This is where community health centres or clinics nationwide play a critical role in improving the quality of life for people with chronic diseases. Today, more than 15,000 community health centres throughout the country are supposed to be providing care to more than 100 million Bangladeshis by increasing access to health care services and educational resources.  As local and community-based health care systems in rural and urban neighbourhoods, community health centres are able to provide direct health services that are both affordable and accessible.While increasing the number of community health clinics and improving their quality of service will bring millions of people under health coverage, it is still a challenge for many to find quality health care that could help manage – even prevent – many chronic diseases, because once a disease progresses, a community health centre or a clinic will not be able to treat the patient. Rather, a large hospital which has all the specialty services will have to take care of the patient.  This means community health centres and small clinics are essential components of the health service delivery model, but unless they are linked with the tertiary care hospital the impact of them will be limited.  The government of Bangladesh is supporting the non-profit service providers such as Diabetic Association of Bangladesh for providing high-quality, affordable primary and preventive care. They are serving low-income and medically underserved communities across the country through a wide network of clinics and tertiary care hospitals. But more needs to be done on the basis of Public-Private Partnership to ensure health care for every citizen of the country.The ready-made garment (RMG) sector has been one of the biggest revenue-generators for Bangladesh, contributing 75 per cent of the export receipts. Millions of employees depend on the garment sector for a living, the majority of them being women migrating from the rural areas.  The health problems of these people and their families are similar to those in the rest of Bangladesh. Even though it is compulsory for an employer to provide health services to the garment workers, due to different factors the services the workers receive are mostly not adequate. If there are a cluster of factories in an area, the government should encourage the stakeholders to set up a large hospital in the area to support the clinics within the factories.  Through the partnership and collaboration between the clinics and tertiary care hospitals, people working in the factories and their relatives living in the surrounding areas will have access to proper health care.  Keeping the workers and their family members healthy is unquestionably a good business practice for the employers.Dhaka is the capital, but Chittagong is the lifeline for Bangladesh because of its port and the industries within, but, unfortunately, unlike Dhaka, Chittagong does not have enough health care facilities on offer for its population.  The situation in South Chittagong is even worse than in Chittagong city. From South Chittagong it takes minimum an hour and a half to go to the nearest tertiary care hospital in Chittagong city. The hospitals in Chittagong city are already overcrowded and the clinicians are found overwhelmed. A couple of new corporate hospitals, which are soon to be operational in Chittagong, might be too expensive for the majority of the people.  Both the Chittagong metropolitan area and South Chittagong need at least 10 new large hospitals, similar to the BIRDEM Hospital in Dhaka, to ensure timely and easy access to health care services for everyone.As the government is setting up export processing zones (EPZs) and special economic zones (SEZs) in different parts of the country, including Chittagong, it should think about keeping a provision for establishing 500-bed to 1000-bed tertiary care hospitals in such areas. The people living within those areas and outside should get an easy access to the hospitals. These hospitals will not only ensure easy access to health service when needed, it will also save time and money and ease the rush of patients in the cities.  It will complement the small clinics in the factories and the surrounding areas and will stimulate the economy by creating both direct and indirect employment opportunities for the people. Above all, a quick access to a tertiary care health centre means saving the valuable time for effective intervention by a specialist clinician and it can save lives also.The government of Bangladesh can consider the option of giving financial incentives to the business community to help them set up non-profit, yet self-sustaining hospitals in export processing zones and special economic zones in different areas of the country.The writer is Executive Director of Good Health, Education, and Life (HEAL) Trust, a registered not-for-profit private organisation.  mosherof@goodhealtrust.org

Bridging the nursing gap

May 15, 2014
Bridging the nursing gap
Tanvir Raquib

Today is the International Nurses Day. The nursing profession is indispensable in the health system. Nurses play a vital role in the treatment and recovery of patients. As a 93 per cent women-majority profession in a traditional society like Bangladesh where many women may not seek care for themselves or their children without access to a female health care provider, the nursing profession represents an opportunity to bridge understanding of women-specific problems and the peculiarities of their utilisation patterns.  At the last mile (rural areas), urban slums and factories, nurses can be employed in telemedicine-enabled clinics to offer low-cost health care service.

As of January 2011, Bangladesh had 26,644 registered nurses with 17,605 posts in the public nursing services and education. Of them, 15,086 nurses work in the public sector and 2,513 posts are vacant. Vacancies in public sector posts are higher among nurses of higher qualification; 96 per cent of class 1 (senior) posts, 68 per cent of class II (junior) posts, and 20 per cent of class III (aide) posts are vacant. It is estimated that around 3,000 registered nurses are employed in the private sector, and about 3000 are working abroad. A study suggests that 99 per cent of nurses are employed in hospitals while another source suggests 95 per cent work in urban hospitals and clinics.

Bangladesh has a population-nurse ratio of 5000:1, a bed-nurse ratio of 13:1, and a doctor-nurse ratio of 2.5:1. These fall far short of the international standard for bed-nurse ratio of 4:1 and doctor-nurse ratio of 1:3. Thus, there is acute scarcity of nurses for providing inpatient care, where inadequacy of health care professionals (HCPs) is a strong limiting factor of population health. Also, with more physicians than nurses, the role of the nurse is very circumscribed, and doctors perform many tasks that nurses are qualified to do, either as a job preservation strategy or due to a lack of confidence in the capability of nurses.

Bangladesh faces a shortage of 280,000 trained nurses, which is a major obstacle towards achieving its MDG (millennium development goal) targets, as well as national health goals outlined under the 2011-2016 Health, Population and Nutrition Sector Development Program (HPNSDP) and the 2008 Bangladesh Health Workforce Strategy. In other words, a tenfold increase of the current size of the nursing workforce is needed.

Each year, public nursing institutes graduate 1250 nurses, while private nursing institutes graduate 530 nurses. This level of production is clearly inadequate to fulfill the current demand of trained nurses in the country without significantly increasing institutional capacity.

Two-year Accelerated BSc Nursing is a popular BSc Nursing programme offered in the western countries for the people who already have a Bachelor degree in any science-related field.  Graduates from the non-science background can also enroll in the accelerated nursing course if they complete the necessary prerequisite courses in Biology and Organic Chemistry.  Bangladesh Government and Bangladesh Nursing Council have recently approved the Two-year Accelerated BSc Nursing course curriculum.  By offering accelerated BSc nursing course at the 37 government nursing institutes, with a yearly intake of only 100 students into the programme, Bangladesh can overnight increase the yearly net output of the new graduates from nursing institutes and college by another 4000 new nurses. This will bring the total number of new nurses entering service every year to around 6000.  There are many young people in their 20s and 30s who might want to change their profession and chose nursing as their career because for a good nurse the profession is both prestigious and financially attractive.  There is a huge demand for qualified nurses in the Middle East, North America, Europe, Japan and Australia.   USA alone needs 1.5 million new nurses.  If Bangladesh can send only 200,000 nurses to these countries for an average yearly salary of US$ 70,000 and if these nurses send home 50 per cent of their salary, it will amount to US$ 8.5 billion foreign remittance per year.

The writer is Executive Director of Good Health, Education,               and Life (HEAL) Trust, a                 registered not-for-profit                      private organisation.   tanvir@goodhealtrust.org

Opinion-Hospital for South Chittagong

May 4, 2014

Hospital for South Chittagong

May 2, 2014

sam_1782With a population of 161 million people living in less than 150,000 sq. km. area, Bangladesh is the most densely populated country in the world with 1015 people /sq. km. With a current population growth rate of 1.6%, Bangladesh is projected to reach 250 million people by the year 2050. Bangladesh is experiencing significant social and demographic transition with expanding industrialization, rising incomes, globalization, unhealthy environment and lifestyle, and an ageing population. Although 71% of the population resides in rural areas, rapid urbanization (at an estimated rate of 6%) is causing a population growth of 2.5% in urban areas.  These factors have contributed to a rising prevalence in Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) in Bangladesh. Inequity in Bangladesh is high: the wealthiest 5% of the population enjoy 30.66% of the national income, while the poorest 5% consume only 0.67%. With a GDP growth rate of 6.3%, the GDP per capita stands at $772.

Over the last ten years, Bangladesh has grown quickly in economy and human development and has significantly reduced the proportion of people living in poverty and the poverty gap ratio, making the country likely to reach its Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) target by 2015. In spite of this success, 47 million people (29% of the population) still live below poverty line, with more at risk of falling back into poverty if struck by unemployment, illness, or natural disasters

Better health for people means empowerment because it also empowers them to participate in economic and public life. Indeed a pro-poor health strategy is central to establishing a harmonious society. Thus, addressing health inequities is a moral imperative, but it is also essential for reasons of global self-interest: a more equitable society is inherently a more stable one.

Currently as a nation, 75% of our health care budget is allocated to the treatment of chronic diseases. That’s more than Taka 500 crore a year spent on treating preventable, chronic conditions such as heart disease, diabetes and hypertension.  And the impact of chronic diseases extends beyond these monetary implications: more than half of Bangladeshis suffer from one or more chronic disease every year, making them the leading causes of death and disability.

Chronic diseases affect everyone and the number of people living with a chronic disease is expected to increase over the next decade.   The first steps toward preventing and treating chronic diseases are education and management.  This is where community health centres or clinics nationwide play a critical role in improving the quality of life for people with chronic diseases.  Today, more than 15,000 community health centres throughout the country are supposed to be providing care to more than 100 million Bangladeshis by increasing access to health care services and educational resources. As local, community-based health care systems in rural and urban neighbourhoods, community health centres are able to provide direct health services that are both affordable and accessible.  While increasing more community health clinics and improving its quality and scope of services will bring millions of more people for health coverage, it’s still a challenge for many to find quality care that could help manage – even prevent – many chronic diseases because once a disease has progressed, a community health centre or a clinic will not be able to manage the patient rather a large hospital which has all the specialty services will have to take care of the patients.  This means community health centre and small clinic are essential component of the health care service delivery model but unless it is linked with the tertiary care hospital the impact of it will be limited.  The Government of Bangladesh is supporting the non-profit service providers such as Diabetic Association of Bangladesh for providing high-quality, affordable primary and preventive care who are serving low income and medically underserved communities throughout the country through a wide network of clinics and tertiary care hospitals. More needs to be done in the form of Public Private Partnership to ensure health care for every citizen of Bangladesh.

Bangladesh is experiencing significant social and demographic transition with expanding industrialization, rising incomes, globalization, unhealthy environment and lifestyle, and an ageing population. Although 71% of the population resides in rural areas, rapid urbanization (at an estimated rate of 6%) is causing a population growth of 2.5% in urban areas, withDhaka city alone accounting for 40% of the urban population. These factors have contributed to a rising prevalence in Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) in Bangladesh.

The ready-made garment sector has been one of the biggest revenue-generators for Bangladesh, bringing in 75% of exports revenue.  Millions of employees depend on the garments industry for a living, the majority being women migrating from the rural areas.  The health problems of these people and their families are similar to those of the rest of Bangladesh.  Even though providing health care to the garments workers is compulsory for the employer, due to various factors the services workers receive are mostly not adequate.  If there are a cluster of factories in an area, government should encourage the stake holders to setup a large hospital in the area to support the clinics within the factories.  Through this partnership and collaborative approach between the clinics and tertiary care hospitals people working in the factories and their relatives living in the surrounding areas will have access to comprehensive health care.  Keeping the workers and their family members healthy is unquestionably good business practice for the employers.

Dhaka is the capital but Chittagong is the life line for Bangladesh because of its port and the industries within but unfortunately unlike Dhaka, Chittagong does not have enough health care facilities to cater to its population.  The situation in South Chittagong is even worse than the Chittagong city. From the South Chittagong it takes a minimum of hour and a half to go to the nearest tertiary care hospital in Chittagong city.  The hospitals in Chittagong city are already overcrowded and the clinicians are feeling overwhelmed.  The couple of new corporate hospitals which are soon to be operational in Chittagong might be too expensive for the majority of the people.  Both the Chittagong Metropolitan Area and South Chittagong need at least 10 new large hospitals similar to the BIRDEM Hospital in Dhaka to ensure timely and easy access to health care service for everyone.

As government is setting up Export Processing Zones and Special Economic Zones in different parts of Bangladesh including in Chittagong, it should think about keeping a provision for establishing 500-bed to 1000-bed tertiary care hospitals in the Export Processing Zones and Special Economic Zones which will be accessible to both the people working in those areas and in the surrounding areas.  These hospitals will not only ensure easy access to health service when needed, it will also save time, money and solve overcrowding of the hospitals in the cities.  It will complement the small clinics in the factories and the surrounding areas and will stimulate the economy by creating both direct and indirect employment opportunity for the people. Government of Bangladesh should consider giving financial incentive to the business communities by encouraging them to setup up non-profit yet self-sustaining hospitals in the Export Processing Zones and Special Economic Zones.

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Tanvir Raquib is the Executive Director of Good HEAL Trust.

– See more at: http://opinion.bdnews24.com/2014/05/02/hospital-for-south-chittagong/#more-8086

হরতালের আগুনে পোড়া মুনিয়ার পাশে ‘গুডহিল’

May 4, 2014

হরতালের আগুনে পোড়া মুনিয়ার পাশে ‘গুডহিল’

নিজস্ব প্রতিবেদক  বিডিনিউজ টোয়েন্টিফোর ডটকম

Published: 2014-04-29 19:56:22.0 BdST Updated: 2014-04-29 19:57:02.0 BdST

“মেয়েটা কোলে আসতে চাইত না। আমারে দেখলেই ভয়ে চিৎকার করত। আমার কলিজাটা কষ্টে ছিড়া যাইতো,” গলার ভেতর থেকে ঠেলে আসা কান্না চেপে কথাগুলো বলছিলেন গৃহবধু মুনিয়া বেগম (২০)।

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গত বছর ১১ নভেম্বর বিরোধী দলের হরতালের মধ্যে মেহেরপুরের গোভীপুর থেকে অটোরিকশায় আমঝুপি যাওয়ার পথে পিকেটারদের ছোড়া পেট্রোল বোমায় ঝলসে গিয়েছিল মুনিয়ার শরীর।

ওই ঘটনার পর তার দুই বছরের মেয়ে তিশা ঝলসে যাওয়া মাকে দেখে ভয়ে কাছে যেতে চাইত না।

ওই পরিস্থিতি এখন আর নেই। শরীরের ক্ষত শুকিয়ে আসার সঙ্গে সঙ্গে মেয়েও যেন মাকে ফিরে পাচ্ছে।

সরকারি হাসপাতালে বিনা খরচে চিকিৎসার পাশাপাশি বিভিন্ন সময় বিভিন্ন জনের কাছ থেকে পাওয়া আর্থিক সহায়তায় অনেকটাই ঘুরে দাঁড়াতে শুরু করেছেন।

মঙ্গলবার স্বেচ্ছাসেবী সংগঠন ‘গুডহিল ট্রাস্টের’ পরিচালক যুক্তরাষ্ট্রপ্রবাসী রহিজ ভূইয়ার দেয়া ৫০ হাজার টাকা পেলেন মুনিয়া।

গুলশানের নিকেতনে প্রতিষ্ঠানটির কার্যালয়ে সহায়তা নেয়ার সময় জানালেন নিজের কথাগুলো।

বললেন, হাসপাতাল থেকে চিকিৎসার পর এতদিন তেজগাঁওয়ে বোনের বাসাতেই ছিলেন। মঙ্গলবার চলে যাচ্ছেন মেহেরপুরে।

“এখনো চিকিৎসার বাকি আছে। চিকিৎসার জন্য ২ মাস পর পর ঢাকা আসতে হাইবো।”

চিকিৎসকরা হাতে অস্ত্রোপচার করার কথা বলেছেন, বলেন মুনিয়া।

“সরকার তো চিকিৎসা দিবো বলছে, ওষুধ দিবো তাতো বলে নাই। আমি বোমা হামলার শিকার হওয়ার পর অনেকে সাহায্যের হাত বাড়াইছেন।  এখন আর কিছু সাহায্য পাইলে আমি স্বাভাবিক জীবনে ফিরতে পারুম।”

মুনিয়ার স্বামী রানা খান মেহেরপুরে বাবুর্চির কাজ করেন। তবে স্ত্রীর চিকিৎসার জন্য ছোটাছুটি করায় ৬ মাস ধরে বেকার।

 

“আমি চাই ওর প্লাস্টিক সার্জারি হোক। কিন্তু ওর চিকিৎসার খরচ বহন করা আমার একার পক্ষে একেবারেই অসম্ভব।” 

পাঁচ বছর আগে নিজেদের পছন্দে তারা বিয়ে করেছিলেন জানিয়ে রানা বলেন, “মানুষ সাহায্য করছে বলেই ওর চিকিৎসা করা গেছে।  আরো কিসু সাহায্য পাইলে ও স্বাভাবিক জীবনে ফিরতে পারবো।”

গুডহিল ট্রাস্টের নির্বাহী পরিচালক তানভীর রাকিব বিডিনিউজ টোয়েন্টিফোর ডটকমকে জানান, একটি অনলাইন সংবাদপত্রে মুনিয়ার খবর পড়ে তাকে সাহায্য দিতে এগিয়ে আসেন রহিজ ভূইয়া।

নাইন-ইলেভেনের পর রহিজকে মার্ক এন্থনি স্ট্রোম্যান নামে এক ব্যক্তি গুলি করেছিল। এতে তার চোখ ক্ষতিগ্রস্ত হয়।

তবে সেসময়ে ফাঁসির দণ্ডাদেশ পাওয়া স্ট্রোম্যানের মুক্তি চেয়েছিলেন রহিজ, বলেন তানভীর।

সাহায্য নিতে আসা মুনিয়া ও রানাকে ভবিষ্যতে চাকরিসহ  যেকোনো প্রয়োজন তাদের সঙ্গে যোগাযোগ রাখতে বলেন।

http://www.natunbarta.com/outside-dhaka/2014/04/30/79518

বোমায় দগ্ধ মুনিয়ার পাশে ‘গুডহিল ট্রাস্ট’

May 4, 2014

নিজস্ব প্রতিবেদক
নতুন বার্তা ডটকম

ঢাকা: পেট্রোল বোমায় ঝলসে যাওয়া মুনিয়ার বেগমের (২০) পাশে দাঁড়িয়েছে বেসরকারি স্বেচ্ছাসেবী সংগঠন ‘গুডহিল ট্রাস্ট’। সংগঠনটির পরিচালক যুক্তরাষ্ট্রপ্রবাসী রহিজ ভূইয়া তাকে নগদ ৫০ হাজার টাকা সহায়তা দিয়েছেন।

মঙ্গলবার গুলশানের নিকেতনে গুডহিল ট্রাস্টের কার্যালয়ে মুনিয়া নিজে এ টাকা বুঝে নেন। এ সময় তিনি বলেন, “এখনো চিকিৎসার বাকি আছে। চিকিৎসার জন্য দুই মাস পর পর ঢাকা আসতে হইবো। চিকিৎসকরা হাতে অস্ত্রোপচার করার কথা বলেছেন।”

মুনিয়া জানান, হাসপাতাল থেকে চিকিৎসার পর এতদিন তিনি তেজগাঁওয়ে বোনের বাসাতেই ছিলেন। মঙ্গলবার চলে যাচ্ছেন মেহেরপুরে।

গত বছর ১১ নভেম্বর বিরোধী দলের হরতালের মধ্যে মেহেরপুরের গোভীপুর থেকে অটোরিকশায় আমঝুপি যাওয়ার পথে পিকেটারদের ছোড়া পেট্রোল বোমায় ঝলসে গিয়েছিল মুনিয়ার শরীর। ওই ঘটনার পর তার দুই বছরের মেয়ে তিশা ঝলসে যাওয়া মাকে দেখে ভয়ে কাছে যেতে চাইত না। ওই পরিস্থিতি এখন আর নেই। শরীরের ক্ষত শুকিয়ে আসার সঙ্গে সঙ্গে মেয়েও যেন মাকে ফিরে পাচ্ছে।

সরকারি হাসপাতালে বিনা খরচে চিকিৎসার পাশাপাশি বিভিন্ন সময় বিভিন্ন জনের কাছ থেকে পাওয়া আর্থিক সহায়তায় অনেকটাই ঘুরে দাঁড়াতে শুরু করেছেন মুনিয়া।

তিনি বলেন, “সরকার তো চিকিৎসা দিবো বলছে, ওষুধ দিবো তাতো বলে নাই। আমি বোমা হামলার শিকার হওয়ার পর অনেকে সাহায্যের হাত বাড়াইছেন।  এখন আর কিছু সাহায্য পাইলে আমি স্বাভাবিক জীবনে ফিরতে পারুম।”

মুনিয়ার স্বামী রানা খান মেহেরপুরে বাবুর্চির কাজ করেন। তবে স্ত্রীর চিকিৎসার জন্য ছোটাছুটি করায় ছয় মাস ধরে বেকার। তিনি বলেন, “আমি চাই ওর প্লাস্টিক সার্জারি হোক। কিন্তু ওর চিকিৎসার খরচ বহন করা আমার একার পক্ষে একেবারেই অসম্ভব।”

গুডহিল ট্রাস্টের নির্বাহী পরিচালক তানভীর রাকিব জানান, একটি অনলাইন সংবাদপত্রে মুনিয়ার খবর পড়ে তাকে সাহায্য দিতে এগিয়ে আসেন রহিজ ভূইয়া।

http://bangla.bdnews24.com/bangladesh/article779729.bdnews

Monthly Newsletter- May 2014

May 1, 2014

Monthly Newsletter- May 2014

Healthcare Project in Korail Slum

Good Heal Trust is delighted and grateful to have completed a full year of its outreach program this month! Having gone through different hurdles and challenges, the team is proud of the achievements thus far. We eagerly look forward to completing many more years in addition to giving service to those who need it and are unable to acquire it.

This month service was given to a total of 667 patients, including regular clinic patients, advance  consultancy  services, follow-ups, referral cases and GHT Health camp patients. Nurses provided Over the counter (OTC) medicine and advice were given to 559 patients. GHT’s telemedicine services, consultancy through Skype was provided to 8 patients. The two doctors who provided their services through Skype were Dr. Aynul Kabir (from the Medicine Department) and Dr. Farhana Khatun (from the Gynecology Department).

 As for referrals, the team arranged for a total of 9 patients to visit Gulshan Seba House for Advanced Consultancy. Among them 5 patients took service from Dr.Farhana Khatoon (Gynecology Department), 3 from Dr. Apurba Kumar Saha (General Medicine department), and 1 from Dr. Aynul Kabir (General Medicine Dept.) In addition to this, 50 patients were referred to different hospitals including BSMMU, Sorwardi Hospital, Dhaka Medical College Hospital (BMCH), Gulshan Seba House, Islamiya Eye Hospital, Society for Assistance to Hearing Impaired Children (SAHIC), BRAC and the GHT Camp.

Similar to previous sessions, Good Heal Trust presented health awareness sessions twice a week on general health advice to patients of the Korail Slum. Advice pertaining to personal hygiene, family planning, common diseases amongst women, common diseases present in households and many other issues were discussed. Focus Group Discussions (FDGs) were held with 840 people within the slum. Once again, the number for the FDGs continues to go up every month as the team looks to serve more and more of those who need it the most.

There were two camps held this month, one on the 11th of May and the second on the 28th of May. At the camp on the 11th, 41 patients were given service, 39 of whom were newly registered and 2 were previously registered. The two doctors who provided service at this camp were Dr.Farhana Khatoon [MBBS, FCPS Consultant- Gynecology) and Dr. Apurba Kumar Saha [Medical Officer, MBBS,PGT (Medicine),CCD (BIRDEM)]. On the 28th,  50 patients were given service, 44 were newly registered and 6 were from the previously registered. At this camp, Dr. Aynul Kabir [MBBS,CCD-BIRDEM Medicine) and Dr.Farhana Rahat[MBBS,FCPS (Pediatric)] provided their services.

In addition to the above, special healthcare screening was given for the following: Breast -oral -cervical cancer screening, blood sugar monitoring, health education and diet counseling, pregnancy tests were given for both adults and adolescents and special heath education sessions were held at the slum clinics.

We look forward to carry on with our programs. We would like for more people to join us in our works- as there are much too many people who need to be served and very few who are willing to serve. Irrelevant of the obstacles and hindrances, we are optimistic about the year ahead and pray that it will be one filled with many more lives helped, cared for and saved.

 

Nurses’ Skill Enhancement Program

The Nurses Skill Enhancement Program (NSEP) continues to be in session at both Birdem and National Heart Foundation (NHF). Nurses continue to learn about the topics which relate to their profession in addition to getting sessions on the English Language, Computers and Grooming.

Nursing Classes: Nursing sessions continue to be the core of the program. The nurses at Birdem are taught modules related to Diabetes and the healthcare which Birdem gives whereas National Heart Foundation nurses are taught modules pertaining to cardiology and services which are provided by their hospital.

The topics covered at Birdem include:

a)      Anatomy and physiology of the respiratory system: Upper respiratory and lower respiratory tract. Controlling breathing and Mechanism of breathing.

b)      Diagnostic test: Bronchoscope, thoracentesis, chest physiotherapy. Breathing sounds, its types and abnormalities within it.

c)      Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation: its definition, recommendations, indications, procedures taken for adults, children and infants and complications involved with CPR.

d)      Chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases: obstructive and restrictive lung disease, emphysema and chronic bronchitis.

e)      Respiratory disorders: asthma, hypoxemia, pneumo-thorax, and atelectasis: their causes and medical and nursing management. Pleural effusion, pulmonary embolism, and oxygen therapy. TB, respiratory failure and lung cancer.

f)       Anatomy and physiology of the Endocrine System. Hormones secreted by the glands and introduction class on D.M and its classification

Activities to note:

– Role Play Session was held on ‘therapeutic communication’ in order to help the nurses improve their communication in hospital scenarios.

– Pre-and post assessment slip test/quizzes were conducted during the classes.

–  Practice nursing test was conducted on 05-May- 2014.

– A CPR demonstration was conducted on 31-May-2014

The topics covered at NHF include:

a)      Congestive Heart failure: its definition, etiology and types i.e., right and left ventricular failure, clinical manifestations, medical, surgical and nursing interventions. In addition to cardiac glycosides action, side effects, contraindication and its anti-dote.

b)     Aortic Dissection: its definition, etiology, pathophysiology, classification, complications, clinical manifestations, collaborative intervention and nursing care.

c)      Varicose Veins and deep vein thrombosis: Dysarrythmias: Premature atrial Contraction, premature ventricular contraction, ventricular tachycardia, ventricular fibrillation and heart blocks and its causes.

d)     Heart-lung machine Pump: its definition, indications and its mechanical structures and functions.

e)      Cardio pulmonary resuscitation: its definition, recommendations, indications, procedures for adults, children and infants, complications of CPR.

Activities to note:

-Pre-and post assessment slip test/quizes were conducted during the classes.

–  Practice nursing test conducted on 22-May-2014.

– A CPR demonstration was conducted on 29-May-2014

English Classes: The English sessions keep group works and student centered learning as a top priority. The nurses are encouraged to speak and overcome their weaknesses in spoken English through group presentations. Pair/group works are done in each class based on the topic being taught.

The topics covered in English Classes at Birdem and NHF this month include:

a)      The definitions and usage of adjectives and adverbs. Nurses were also taught how to write brief descriptions using adjectives and adverbs.

b)      Article on fitness: different types of fitness and the need for fit nurses (and people in general). Nurses were suggested different physical activities to stay fit.

c)      The difference between ‘True or False’ and ‘Fact or Opinion’. Nurses were taught how to differentiate each of these.

d)      The Zoo & Usage of ‘too many,’ ‘too much’ and ‘a lot of’ and the difference between ‘small’ and ‘little.’ The nurses looked through a wide range of zoo animals and their names in English in addition to the above grammar works.

e)      History & Globalization. Both these terms were presented and discussed. Nurses were shown videos on how globalization is affecting every corner of the Earth. Its positives and negatives were looked at in addition to why history is essential and a part of us as individuals.

Computer Classes: Last month we had mentioned how we are aiming to see the nurses use computers to write assignments. This month, for their computer lesson, the nurses were assigned assignments in Nursing and English. Some of them were able to do the assignments while others are still getting there.

Grooming Classes: Grooming is an essential part of any profession; it is even more so for the Nursing Profession. This is because healthcare professionals must maintain many hygienic, ethical and moral values/matters as they are dealing with peoples’ lives.

The topics covered for grooming at Birdem and NHF include:

a)     Telephone techniques and etiquettes

b)    A Grooming Test was conducted to assess how much the students have taken in so far

If interested in working with us or if you simply want to find out more information about what we endeavor to bring to the over-all healthcare system, current/future projects and much more, please visit us at: www.goodhealtrust.org