AN ABSENCE of care for medical supplies in public hospitals can have multiple detrimental effects. The supplies could be damaged and stolen if proper care is not put in place. The photograph that 抖阴精品 published on its front page on June 13, showing piles of saline bags and other medical supplies lying scattered on the floor at Dhaka Medical College Hospital speaks volumes about such risks. This is not a case of poor housekeeping. It is but symptomatic of a deep-rooted problem of public health infrastructure and institutional neglect. The most prominent hospital of Bangladesh mishandling supplies questions the process of the institution鈥檚 inventory control, oversight and, ultimately, patient safety. It is a snapshot of how chaotic storage practices can have damaging implications for the efficacy of health services delivery. The photograph aligns with findings of February 2023 which painted a grim picture of healthcare infrastructure. An analysis of Directorate General of Health Services data that time showed that 238 medical devices in three major public hospitals, including 149 at Dhaka Medical College Hospital, were out of order, with many deemed irreparable.
This dysfunctional apparatus represent not only wasted public money, estimated conservatively at Tk 1.18 billion, but a direct human cost. Magnetic resonance imaging machines supposed to have been operational by then were, in fact, unusable, forcing patients to turn to costly private alternatives, often paying three times the public rate. Surgeries are delayed because of broken operating tables and lights. Ambulances lie idle, slowing emergency responses. The disruption hits hardest lower-income patients, many of whom visit public hospitals as the last resort. The problem is not only technical failure but a collapse in services delivery and widening healthcare inequality. The solutions should begin with an independent audit mechanism and real-time inventory and maintenance systems both of which require only political and administrative will. The operational chaos as evident in the photograph at hand exists alongside systemic dysfunction and bureaucratic apathy. Higher hospital authorities may offer varying levels of vigilance, but their efforts are undermined by a structure that prioritises procurement over maintenance. The cumulative effect is a compromised public health system where the poorest bear the brunt, unable to access essential tests, facing postponed surgeries or being turned away.
A robust public audit system, coupled with administrative reforms and strict regulatory enforcement, is urgently needed.聽 It is high time for a health sector audit not only of machines but also of the frame of mind that governs them. If left unaddressed, the cracks in public health care could widen into fault lines.
