Talha Bin Habib, back from Kurigram
Continued river erosion, poor communication system, seasonal monga and limited income opportunities deprive people of Rangpur, Kurigram and Lalmonirhat from taking nutritious diet that usually push them to embrace to suffer various diseases throughout the year.
But the scenario of Kurigram district is worst than those of other districts. Majority of households in the district are landless farmers who hardly could manage two round meals a day.
As a result the mothers and children in the districts have been suffering from malnutrition. Most of the children have been suffering various diseases like anaemia, diarrhoea, diphtheria and child related diseases.
The medical facilities for mother and children are insufficient in these districts. Kurigram sadar hospital has little capacity to provide medical care to the pauper mothers and their children. But the scenario has started changing. The Mother and Child Health Home Centre of Terredes Hommes Foundation, a Switzerland based organisation, in Kurigram sadar, is providing all sorts of medical treatment to mothers and children in the these northern districts. They are offering medical treatment at a cost of only Tk 17 per person.
The health care scenario of the mother and child came to the light when a group of journalists visited the district under the Advocacy and Communication for Children and Women Development Project (Third phase) which is being implemented by the national news agency, Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS) with the assistance of UNICEF. Md Anwar Uddin, deputy director of the project led the team.
” Every day nearly 300 mothers and children who suffer from different diseases due to malnutrition come to the centre for medical treatment,” said Pranab Kumar Roy, project coordinator of the Terredes Hommes Foundation.
He said, those who are not capable to bear the expenses (Tk 2 for registration and Tk 15 for other charges) could also get all kinds of necessary medical treatment.
Rina, mother of Shaheena (19 days old) and Afroza, mother of Apon (four months) came from Chanmari under sadar of the district to the centre for receiving medical treatment.
“We are receiving all kinds medical facilities for us and our children”, said Rina.
Mother and children from Burungamari , Ulipur, Rajarhat, Nageswari upazilas and Belgachi, Kathalbari, Moghalbasa, Hatia under the sadar upazial come to the centre for treatment.
There are one MBBS doctor, three medical assistants and five nurses in the centre. The patients are being given all kinds of medicines. The centre is open six days a week except for Friday.
Dr Shaheen Sazzad Hossain, technical adviser of the centre said that they would increase bed capacity and expand its activities soon by considering the growing demand for receiving medical treatment from the centre.
Dr Md Touhidul Islam, Civil Surgeon of Kurigram said economically the district is backward. People in the district could not afford to manage nutritious food due to poor economic condition. As a result they often fall prey to various diseases.
About 75 percent people in the district have been suffering from anaemia and most of them are mother and children, he added.
He claimed that the district sadar hospital is providing medical assistance to the patients including mother and children with their limited resources.
We would increase medical services for mother and children in near future, Dr Touhidul added.
Courtesy of The New Nation
