The High Court has directed all government and private hospitals and clinics in the country to ensure emergency treatment for people injured in any accident. The health ministry secretary has been directed to issue a circular on this immediately.
A High Court bench of Justice Md Habibul Gani and Justice Syed Mohammad Tajrul Hossain gave the order on Thursday, partly granting a rule issued on a writ petition. It also directed that the Road Accident Act, 2018 be amended and rules framed so that all accident cases can be treated at the nearest hospital or clinic.
Senior lawyer Manzil Morshed appeared for the writ petition, deputy attorney general Zisan Haider for the state, Advocate Kazi Ershadul Alam for the health directorate’s director-general, and senior lawyer Mostafizur Rahman for Salauddin Hospital.
After the verdict, Manzil Morshed told journalists the health secretary had been directed to issue a circular instructing every government and private hospital and clinic to provide primary treatment to anyone injured in a road accident, a mugging or any accident, and to refer them to another hospital for better treatment if needed.
On 26 January 2018, Ibrahim, a motor-parts trader from Khulna’s Sonadanga, was injured in a mugging in Dhaka’s Sayedabad and taken to the nearby Salauddin Hospital, from where he was sent to Dhaka Medical College Hospital, where he later died. After the news was published in the media, Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh (HRPB) filed a writ petition in the public interest.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report