The contracts for the dialysis centres operated under public-private partnership (PPP) arrangements at Chattogram Medical College Hospital (CMCH) and in Dhaka have been extended by six months.
The extended term will take effect after the existing contract expires on 29 November.
Joint Secretary of the Health Services Division Md Mostafizur Rahman said the hospital’s own dialysis machines and other necessary equipment are expected to arrive within the six-month extension period. He shared the information around 11:30am on Tuesday.
Earlier in the day, kidney patients and their relatives formed a human chain demanding that dialysis services at the centre remain operational. They later marched to the office of the hospital director.
Hospital Director Brig Gen Mohammad Taslim Uddin told them that the Health Minister had spoken with the Prime Minister and that the contract had already been extended by six months.
He said Joint Secretary Mostafizur Rahman contacted him by phone in front of journalists and asked him to inform patients and their relatives about the decision.
“The contract has been extended for six months in both Dhaka and Chattogram. If our machines arrive within this period, they will be installed,” he said.
Patients and their relatives welcomed the extension. However, they demanded a long-term solution to ensure uninterrupted dialysis services.
Around 10am, the Dialysis Centre Protection and Patient Welfare Committee organised a human chain on the CMCH premises. The protesters later marched to the director’s office around 11am.
During the programme, patients said they could receive dialysis services at the PPP-operated centre for only Tk621 per session, while the same treatment costs between Tk6,500 and Tk7,200 at private hospitals and dialysis centres in Chattogram.
They said the CMCH facility is therefore vital for low-income patients.
The patients also alleged that private hospitals often transfer dialysis patients with even minor breathing complications to coronary care units (CCUs), intensive care units (ICUs) or special care units (SDUs), significantly increasing treatment costs.
In contrast, they said they had been receiving safe dialysis services at the CMCH for years without repeatedly facing such transfers.
The protesters said Chattogram has a shortage of dialysis facilities. While most private hospitals operate only five to six dialysis machines each, the number is insufficient compared with patient demand.
They said the PPP centre at CMCH provides services 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and allows patients to receive immediate dialysis when their physical condition deteriorates.
Shubha Bhattacharya, general secretary of the Dialysis Centre Protection Committee, said, “We have no objection to whichever company operates the centre. We simply want the existing dialysis service to continue so that we can stay alive.”
However, the speakers said the government could continue the service either by retaining the existing PPP arrangement or by signing a contract with another private organisation. They stressed that urgent and effective measures were needed to protect patients’ lives.
Kidney patients who joined the demonstration said they should be resting at home because of their illnesses, but uncertainty over treatment had forced them to travel from distant areas and take to the streets.
Tayef Rahman, assistant manager of the Sandor Kidney Dialysis Centre at the CMCH, said they had learned about the six-month extension but had not yet received any written confirmation.
