The union health and family welfare centre was built in the hope of bringing healthcare to the doorstep of people on the margins. At its opening, residents’ eyes held a dream of relief — treatment, medicine and maternal and child health services close at hand. But that dream has now largely turned to dust.
The Barni Union Health and Family Welfare Centre in Barlekha upazila, Moulvibazar, was opened in November 2020, yet 5 years and 9 months on it has still not become effectively operational. Medical services are practically shut for want of staff. After the opening, the building was unlocked for a handful of days, but for most of the time it stays locked. And it is not just locked: neglect and mismanagement are ruining the government centre’s building and its surroundings.
In the grounds, where patients and their relatives should be coming and going, cattle and goats now roam freely. Grass and weeds have grown up at the front and the entrance, and rubbish has piled up in various spots. For long lack of maintenance, even the paint on the building’s walls has faded.
According to the Barlekha upazila family planning office, of the four posts at the Barni centre, two — family welfare visitor and aya — have been sanctioned. The other two — sub-assistant community medical officer and MLSS — have not yet been approved.
The upazila family planning office recently assigned sub-assistant community medical officer Nazrul Islam to the Barni and Nijbahadurpur union centres. Under the set schedule he is supposed to be on duty at the Barni centre two days a week. But local residents allege that in reality he comes no more than one day a week — sometimes staying only briefly before leaving, and in some weeks not appearing at all.
On a visit on Monday, the centre’s main gate was open but a padlock hung on the building’s main door. Grass and weeds had grown up around the front and the entrance, and rubbish lay scattered about. Cattle and goats were roaming freely inside the centre’s boundary, grazing on the grass in the grounds. The faded walls and the unkempt surroundings gave the impression that the centre had lain practically defunct for a long time — raising the question of whether a building meant for treating people will end up as a grazing ground for livestock.
A local resident, Mohammad Jablu, complained that one health worker comes to the centre one day a week. “One person comes one day a week. He opens up, and when people come he says there is no medicine. Then he sits for half an hour to 40 minutes and leaves. After that there is no word. Some weeks he comes, some weeks he does not,” he said, pointing angrily at the rubbish that had built up around the centre.
“We were happy when the building was opened. We were told a doctor would be here every day. But it has been nearly six years, and the centre is of no use. We have many leaders in Barni, but no leader who does any work,” Jablu said.
With the centre not effectively running, people of the union are not only being deprived of basic treatment but are also losing important primary-healthcare opportunities. Family-planning services, antenatal and delivery care, newborn and child health, adolescent health services and treatment for common illnesses were all meant to be available here. A nearby government health centre matters especially to remote and marginal communities; but if there is no regular doctor, health worker or medicine, the infrastructure exists while healthcare remains out of reach.
Barlekha upazila family planning officer Sima Siddika said: “The Barni Union Health and Family Welfare Centre is new. Posts have not been created here, so it is not possible to serve people. We have applied to higher authorities for staff. Once staff are available, it will be possible to provide proper health services to people.”
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report