Shortage of saline leaves Kurigram patients in trouble

The 250-bed Kuigram General Hospital is struggling to manage essential Dextrose and Sodium Chloride (DNS) saline, used for short-term fluid replacement, due to a shortage in supply for the past month.

The district is experiencing an acute shortage of saline, reports UNB.

As the government-run hospitals can’t supply the saline as per demand, patients and their relatives are bound to buy the saline paying double to triple the price from rare pharmacies.

Before hiking the price, a 1000ml DNS saline was sold for Tk 90-95 but now it is being sold for Tk 250-300.

According to sources, over 200 patients get hospitalized at the 250-bed Sadar Hospital daily and around 400 patients remain undergoing treatment for different problems.

Around 200 bags of saline supplied by the state-owned medicine manufacturing ‘Essentials Drugs Company Ltd (EDCL) is needed to cope with the demand.

But, the saline supply from the EDCL remains suspended for the past few months, resulting in a disruption of providing saline to the patients.

Md Yunus Ali, who took his son with fever and stomach ache to the hospital on Friday morning, said he was asked to manage the DNS saline from outside the hospital and was finally able to buy a bag of saline for Tk 200 against its usual price of Tk 90-95 after searching several pharmacies.

Druggist Md Emdadul Hoque of Gariyalpara Mor said there is no supply of DNS saline and they have nothing to do once the companies (medicine manufactures) don’t supply as per their demand.

Quoting the medicine suppliers, he said the production of the saline is being hampered due to the dollar crisis as raw materials for the saline are to be imported from abroad in exchange for dollars.

Civil Surgeon Dr Md Majur-A-Morshed said they informed the higher authority about the crisis considering the situation.