The health authorities are now conducting a special drive against unauthorised healthcare facilities across the country, including Dhaka, as those pose a serious threat to public health for not meeting the necessary safety requirements.

The crackdown against illegal hospitals, clinics, diagnostic centres and blood banks began on 10 January after Dr Samanta Lal Sen took the helm of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

On 15 January, the High Court also asked the authorities concerned to submit lists of authorised and unauthorised healthcare facilities in a month following the death of little boy Ayaan Ahmed at United Medical College Hospital in Dhaka while undergoing circumcision.

“The High Court has sought lists of authorised and unauthorised healthcare facilities by 15 February. We hope we can submit the lists before the time. We’ve been running a drive to identify illegal healthcare facilities since 10 January,” Dr Abu Hussain Md Moinul Ahsan, director (Hospital) of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), told the Daily Sun.

He, however, declined to provide the number of unauthorised hospitals, clinics, diagnostics centres and blood banks. “As per our capacity, we’re carrying out our drive across the country. We hope we can identify a maximum number of unauthorised healthcare facilities within the stipulated time,” he added. According to the data available on the DGHS website, there are 15,213 authorised private healthcare facilities across the country. Of them, 5,017 are hospitals and clinics, 9,999 diagnostic centres and 197 blood banks.

Sources at the civil surgeon offices of different districts said the offices have already identified and shut down several hundred health facilities during the ongoing drive while many others keep their shutters down amid the drive.

Talking to the Daily Sun, Sirajganj Civil Surgeon Dr Ram Pada Roy said, “We’ve already shut down 17 unauthorised health facilities during the drive. Actually,

drive against unauthorised healthcare facilities is our routine work. We just strengthened it after getting recent directives from the health ministry.”

“We’ve already shut down 10 unauthorised hospitals, clinics and diagnostic centres. We’ll continue to our drive against the illegal ones,” Dr Jalal Uddin Ahmed, civil surgeon of Bagerhat district, said.

Sources from the civil surgeon offices said 11 unauthorised healthcare facilities have so far been closed in Narayanganj, two in Chandpur and 10 in Noakhali during the special drive.

However, though a number of unauthorised healthcare facilities are closed during special drives, many of those resume their activities again.

Experts questioned who the illegal healthcare facilities run as the health authorities claim that they run drives against those routinely. Health and Family Welfare Minister Dr Samanta Lal Sen on 16 January directed the authorities concerned to shut down all unregistered hospitals, clinics, diagnostic centres and blood banks.

"Unregistered medical facilities won’t be spared ... stern actions will be taken against those who run medical facilities without licence. I myself have been a victim of an unlicenced hospital's poor medical care. I won’t tolerate this," he said when a delegation of Bangladesh Health Reporters’ Forum met him at his office.

The DGHS on several occasions announced crackdown on illegal healthcare facilities.

It shut down 165 illegal private healthcare facilities and realised Tk50 lakh in fine on various charges during its special drive from 19 September till 15 October last year. But the drive mysteriously stopped.

Experts said such attitude of the authorities concerned is giving space to the owners of the illegal private healthcare facilities to run the activities, which is putting public health in jeopardy.

Talking to the Daily Sun, a director-level official of the DGHS, wishing not to be named, said the drive against illegal healthcare facilities was postponed unofficially, without any valid reason.

Public health expert Prof Be-Nazir Ahmed, also former director of the DGHS, said the private healthcare facilities may highly affect the public health as those may give wrong diagnosis after carrying out tests with expired re-agents and may provide wrong treatment with unskilled medical staff as they have no legal barrier.

He also said a separate directorate should be formed to monitor the private healthcare facilities and the health directorate should also be given more power and more manpower to stop setting up of illegal healthcare facilities in the country.