Al-Dwin hospital authorities have rejected as untrue the claim that they spent crores of taka lobbying the minister to save the hospital’s licence following the deaths of six infants at the Dhaka facility.
The hospital’s executive director, Dr. Sheikh Mohiuddin, made the remark on Monday afternoon in response to a journalist’s question at an emergency news conference. Asked about the health minister’s statement that Al-Dwin hospital authorities had spent crores of taka lobbying him, Dr. Sheikh Mohiuddin said: “This is not true. Why would we spend money lobbying? There is no question of our spending money. He will have to prove that we spent money lobbying him.”
Referring to the cancellation of Al-Dwin hospital’s licence over the deaths of six newborns, Health Minister Sardar Mohammad Sahawat Hossain said at an event in Monohardi, Narsingdi, on Saturday (June 13) that the hospital had spent crores of taka lobbying him. “By the grace of Allah and with your prayers, I have no greed for money. The prime minister told me she would give full support for whatever I do. I cancelled the licence,” the minister said.
He also said the hospital authorities were in no way connected to a writ petition filed by a lawyer challenging the decision to cancel the licence.
Asked about the cause of the infants’ deaths, he said it was still not known exactly why the children had died. The Health Ministry report did not make clear the cause of death either, he said. The infants who died were not autopsied.
Sheikh Mohiuddin said that although the investigation report did not state a clear cause, reforms had begun on the issues it raised. Oxygen, carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide equipment had been purchased for the hospital, he said. The infant ward had been sealed off, and keys had been requested to put it back in order. Overall, the reforms could be completed within a week.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report