33 child deaths in Rajshahi due to ICU shortage, YASC demands action

Youth Action for Social Change (YASC), a development research-based volunteer organisation, has termed the deaths of 33 children in the ICU crisis at Rajshahi Medical College (RAMEC) Hospital in the last 11 days "not mere accidents, but administrative negligence and structural killings". In a statement sent to the media on Saturday, March 28, the organisation's president, Mohammad Shamiul Alim Shaon, made the remarks.

The statement said the deaths of 33 children between March 11 and 22 due to a shortage of ICU beds represent not just a general crisis in the health sector but point to severe administrative failure. The incident of a family receiving a phone call that an ICU bed was available four days after the death of two-and-a-half-year-old Nusayba was cited as a tragic example of the ineffectiveness of the state system.

YASC said that while children are dying in hospitals due to a lack of adequate oxygen and ICU facilities, the modern 200-bed Rajshahi Children's Hospital in the city's Bahrampur area, built at a cost of Tk 35 crore, has remained closed since 2023. Although the infrastructure, including 56 ICU beds and a central oxygen system, is ready, the hospital has not been opened under the pretext of awaiting approval of its manpower structure. The statement noted this is contrary to Articles 15(ka) and 18(1) of the Constitution and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

To address the situation, YASC has put forward three demands: immediately hand over the hospital building to the health department and open it; appoint doctors and nurses on deputation without waiting for permanent recruitment and activate the ICU and emergency departments within 72 hours; and form a high-level investigation committee to determine responsibility for the child deaths.

The organisation warned that administrative excuses will no longer be accepted at the cost of children's lives. It stated that if the hospital is not opened quickly, it will launch a strong movement involving the public and conscious youth.