Dialysis services for kidney patients suspended at CMCH

Authorities of Chattogram Medical College and Hospital (CMCH) have suspended dialysis services for kidney patients at the hospital from this morning, causing immense suffering to the patients.

Dialysis services provider, Sandor Dialysis Services Bangladesh Pvt Ltd, has told the CMCH authorities that they will not be able to provide dialysis services.

The CMCH authorities already issued a notice at the hospital on Wednesday. Soon after the news spread, hundreds of kidney patients and their relatives expressed anger and frustration.

According to the notice, Sandor Dialysis Services will no longer be involved in providing dialysis services to kidney patients from Thursday and they took the decision due to delay in payment from the Directorate General of Health Services (Finance) and non-cooperation of the authorities concerned.

The notice also requested patients to take alternative steps until the settlement of the issue.

Brigadier General Shamim Ahsan, Director of CMCH, said the Sandor authorities decided to stop the dialysis services and the ministry has been informed.

Earlier, on January 8, kidney patients and their relatives held a demonstration in front of the dialysis centre of the hospital, protesting a hike in dialysis fee.

The protesters said a patient needs dialysis eight times a month and they have to pay Tk 2,795 for the first two times and Tk 510 for each of the rest.

Now the hospital authorities have raised the fee to Tk 2,935 and the patients have to pay it four times, and Tk 535 for each of the rest of dialysis every month, they said.

Kidney Dialysis Centre was launched at the hospital under the public-private partnership project in 2017 and it is now operating with 32 dialysis machines.

According to the agreement with the Ministry of Health, Indian company Sandor will continue its operations at the centre for ten years.