Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University vice-chancellor Professor Dr Mohammad Shahinul Alam on Tuesday said that the cost of patients’ treatment needed to be reduced and for this, doctors had a role to play.
‘Many poor, lower-middle-class, and middle-class patients fall below the poverty line while seeking treatment. If doctors follow guidelines and prescribe medications and tests accordingly, treatment costs could be reduced,’ he said while inaugurating an expanded cardiac emergency service with five beds on the ground floor of D block at the BSMMU in Dhaka.
He said that guidelines should be developed that took into account the patient’s financial situation to minimise medical expenses.
Highlighting the necessity of improving the quality of emergency services in medical institutions across the country, Shahinul Alam also emphasised heart diseases as a critical issue and thanked the cardiology department for initiating the expanded cardiac emergency service.
To meet the growing demand of patients, with the addition of these beds, the total number of beds in the cardiac emergency department has reached 13, said a press release.
The BSMMU pro-VC for research and development Professor Dr Mohammad Mujibur Rahman Howlader, treasurer Professor Dr Nahreen Akhter, and chairman of the cardiology department Professor Dr Mohammad Shafi Uddin, among others, delivered speeches at the event.
Mujibur Rahman Howlader mentioned the plan to establish a University Central Research Centre to strengthen research activities at the university.
Mohammad Shafi Uddin requested administrative support for the establishment of an internationally recognised cardiac centre or institute at the BSMMU.
The inaugural ceremony was attended by several faculty members, doctors, and resident students from the cardiology department, including Professor Dr Mohammad Harisul Haque, Professor Dr Manzur Mahmud, Professor Dr SM Mostafa Zaman, Professor Dr Iqbal Hasan, Professor Dr Mokhlesur Rahman, Professor Dr Mohammad Abu Selim, associate professor Dr Mostashirul Haque, Dr Mohammad Rasul Amin, assistant professor Dr DMMA Faruq Osman, Dr Nilufar Fatema, Dr Mohammad Kibria Shamim, Dr Muhammad Zafar Iqbal Jamali, Dr Lohani Mohammad Tajul Islam, Dr Khondokar Kamruzzaman, Dr Anam Monwarul Kadir and Dr Abdus Salam.