Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has ordered the authorities concerned to monitor the supply of N-95 masks to hospitals for the use of coronavirus patients and health workers.
The prime minister gave the directive to the DGHS and the Central Medical Stores Depot during a video conference with government officials from her official residence Ganabhaban on Monday, reports bdnews24.com.
Highlighting the delivery of the wrong masks to Mohanagar Hospital, dedicated to treating COVID-19 patients, in Dhaka's Babubazar, Hasina said, “The hospital received some medical equipment under the label of PPE. But they didn't seem to get the right equipment so this must be monitored.”
Later, as CMSD Director Brig Gen Md Shahidullah tried to offer an explanation, the prime minister stepped in and said, "The boxes had N95 masks written on them but you must still check if these are carrying the right products."
"You must monitor if the suppliers are providing or buying the correct materials. I'm sending the photo to the minister for scrutiny. Please keep an eye on this."
JMI Group, a Bangladeshi company producing medical equipment certified by the DGHS, has been supplying gloves, sanitisers and masks to the CMSD.
The company supplied the wrong masks to doctors at Mugda General Hospital at the end of March but later apologised. The CMSD subsequently withdrew the masks from the hospital.
Doctors, nurses and other health workers in different hospitals have bemoaned the scarcity of N95 masks, with some taking to social media to vent their frustrations about the shortage and supply of wrong masks.
“I just referred to the incident at Mohanagar Hospital but it cannot happen in other places either,” Hasina warned.
“All I want to say is that there should be increased monitoring when a company gets the order to supply masks. Those who receive it should check it too.”
Shahidullah acknowledged that mistakes were made during the efforts to meet the immediate needs of hospitals and said the authorities are now taking the initiative to ensure the proper distribution of medical equipment.
