Zakir Azad, Cumilla

The Daudkandi Government Trauma Center in Cumilla has not been operational for a century and a half after its inauguration. This specialized hospital, established to treat patients injured in accidents on various roads in Cumilla including the Dhaka-Chittagong highway, seems to be in trauma itself. Only two or four patients come to the outpatient department - they leave with primary care and medicine.

However, in this region including Dhaka-Chittagong, Cumilla -Sylhet, people injured in road accidents have to rush to Cumilla Medical College Hospital for advanced treatment, and from there to Dhaka Medical College Hospital. Many of these referred patients lose their lives while rushing for advanced treatment. But doctors say that if those injured in road accidents are given primary advanced treatment at the trauma center, their chances of saving their lives increase significantly. Locals complain that this hospital, built at a cost of crores of taka, has not seen the light of day for 18 years due to political reasons alone. Although this three-story building has all the facilities like operation theater, ICU, CCU, and patient accommodation, everything is abandoned.

It is learnt that the former Health and Family Planning Minister Dr. Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain inaugurated the center on October 6, 2006, just before the previous BNP coalition government left power. The center was closed a few months after the inauguration due to lack of necessary equipment. Later, after the Awami League-led grand alliance government came to power, the then Health and Family Welfare Minister ANM Ruhul Haque officially inaugurated the trauma center for the second time on April 30, 2010. Since then, the hospital has been going on for a long time. Sometimes limited treatment was provided outdoors, sometimes it was closed.

A market started in the field in front of the hospital. In this way, a hospital became abandoned day by day. But the importance of such a specialized hospital in Cumilla district, which is surrounded by highways, has always been immense. On-site inspection showed that the emergency department and the doctors' and nurses' rooms are on the ground floor of the three-story building of the trauma center. The rest of the building is a ghostly environment.

Although the rooms on the second and third floors were built in the modern structure of the time, the plaster is now peeling off. The doors and windows are also rusting due to not being used for a long time. Muhammad Nazmul Alam, the newly appointed resident medical officer of the hospital, said that the building of the trauma center is still safe. It has a well-equipped structure for treating patients, including an operation theater and CCU. As far as I know, some of the equipment of this hospital is kept in the Gouripur Upazila Health Complex. If they are collected and provided with more advanced equipment, services for patients injured in accidents can be ensured. We also want the hospital to be opened.

Dr. Mosleh Uddin Ahmed, former principal of Cumilla Medical College, said that now people do not die very often from diarrhoea, but the death rate in road accidents is the highest. Therefore, this trauma center is the most important for providing treatment to accident victims. But it is unacceptable that a people-friendly institution will be abandoned for political reasons. If desired, the full work of the hospital can still be started here, which will be very useful to the people. Now that there is no political government, let's assume that now is the best time to start this hospital.'

According to sources from the Department of Health, the trauma center was established to provide treatment to patients injured in accidents on various roads in Cumilla , including the Dhaka-Chittagong highway. Although the construction of the center was completed and inaugurated at a cost of 68.8 million taka funded by the Public Works Department, it has not been possible to start it even today. However, if a road accident occurs at some place in Cumilla on the highway almost every day, local doctors quickly refer the patients to Pangu Hospital in Dhaka. But hundreds of passengers lose their lives every year due to lack of time or treatment on the way to Dhaka.

It was learned from talking to local people that since the trauma center is not operational, no patient injured in road accidents is getting government medical services near the highway every day. Local people complain that they have received nothing except a beautiful building. They complain that since it was built during the BNP era, this hospital did not catch anyone's attention during the Awami League era. Local resident Mehdi Hasan said, "Politics will remain in politics, but why should a public service institution built with people's money be closed? This cannot happen. We want the hospital to be operational."

Abul Bashar from the same area said, "How many accidents happen on the highway every day. If you are injured, you have to be taken to Cumilla or Dhaka city. But the trauma center was built to treat those injured in accidents - the hospital is being left unused for years, depriving people." Malek Khasru Usha said, "If those injured in road accidents are given immediate treatment, there is a chance of survival. If the trauma center is operational, there will be a chance of saving the lives of those injured in accidents."

Cumilla Deputy Commissioner Md. Amirul Kaysar said, "There are many accident-prone places on the highway in the Cumilla region - where many people are killed in road accidents. That is why the importance of the trauma center is very high. But it is very sad, we have not been able to build the infrastructure of the trauma center and start it for a long time. We will draw the attention of the Ministry of Health so that the trauma center can be started in full swing very soon."

Cumilla Deputy Civil Surgeon Reza Md. Sarwar Akbar, who is in charge of the Civil Surgeon, said that the matter is a matter of decision at the government's policy level. If the government wants, it is possible to restart the hospital by bringing manpower or equipment.