Ten new dialysis machines are being installed in Chattogram Medical College and Hospital (CMCH) to solve the ongoing crisis of dialysis for kidney patients amid their protest against fee hike in their service.
The machines will be installed in the hospital in next 15 days. With these, a total of 17 machines will provide uninterrupted dialysis services to poor patients, said CMCH Director Brigadier General Dr Shamim Ahsan.
Three machines from Dhaka have already been installed at the hospital on Wednesday.
“Earlier we had seven dialysis machines in operation. These new machines have arrived at a time when kidney patients are protesting against the increase in fees at the Dialysis Centre in the hospital under the public-private partnership project,” said CMCH Nephrology Department Head Professor Dr Nurul Huda.
According to the CMCH authority, a list of 25 poor kidney patients has been finalised to provide dialysis services and they are being provided the service with the present capacity of the hospital.
It will be possible to provide dialysis services to more than 100 poor patients if the 10 new dialysis machines are installed.
Kidney patients can get dialysis services at a low cost from the government here. A patient has to pay Tk 20,000 at a time for six months. This dialysis service will be provided at Tk 416 for two sessions per week.
Read more: Dialysis fee hike at CMCH: Police sue protesting kidney patients, arrest one
The kidney patients and their relatives have been staging demonstrations in front of the dialysis centre of the hospital for the last four days protesting the hike in dialysis fees.
A case has been filed against some kidney patients and their relatives on charges of assaulting police and obstructing their work.
The protesters said a patient needs dialysis eight times a month and they have to pay Tk 2,795 first two times and Tk 510 for each of the rest.
Now the hospital authorities have raised the fee to Tk 2935 and the patients have to pay it four times and Tk 535 for each of the remaining dialysis in a 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 this centre for 10 years. The institution will use government space for this. A patient has to pay about Tk 3000 against kidney dialysis each time.
Read more: Patients, relatives stage demonstrations at CMCH protesting hike in dialysis fee