No Shortage of Saline at Govt Hospitals: Health minister

Despite a huge rise in demand for the medication owing to the dengue outbreak, health minister Zahid Maleque allayed worries that there would be a saline shortage at government hospitals on Saturday.

"It is impossible to suddenly increase [saline production]." The minister told reporters after touring the dengue unit of the 250-bed Manikganj General Hospital on Saturday that the businesses that make saline have been instructed to speed up their production to 100% of their capacity.

We need 40,000 bags of saline every day. Then, each month, 1.2 million saline bags must be purchased. Some companies can't produce that much at once. The minister said, "During a conference I convened with my specialists two days ago, the directives for the import of saline, if necessary, were delivered.

Maleque stated that it is the duty of city corporations and municipalities to frequently spray pesticide in areas where water collects or on open drains. If spraying is only carried out when an epidemic develops, it will be ineffective. It ought to be carried out all year round. Only then will dengue and mosquitoes be under control, according to the statement.

He chatted with dengue patients while in the dengue unit and asked about their care.

The health minister added that there have been about 80,000 dengue cases nationwide, and that figure is continually rising.

"We need to minimize the number of mosquitoes if we want to reduce the number of dengue patients. I have requested that local governments and city companies squirt more and more pesticide to kill mosquitoes.

The minister continued by saying that many beds are still unoccupied and that it has been ordered to maintain 5,000 beds available around the nation.