Stress on rheumatology dept in public hospitals
UNB
Although one-third of adults suffer from various types of rheumatic disorder, including pain in low back, knees, hips and shoulders, there is no full-fledged rheumatology department in the countrys public hospitals except Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) to provide proper treatment to them, reports UNB.
The overall prevalence of musculoskeleletal pain (rheumatic disorder) among the countrys adult people is 33.7 per cent, according to a recent survey jointly conducted by World Health Organisation (WHO) and BSMMU.
Of the patients with musculoskeleletal pain, 12.7 per cent suffer nonspecific low back pain while 7.3 per cent osteoarthritis of knee, 5.2 per cent soft tissue rheumatism, 6 per cent lumbar spondylosis, 1.6 per cent rheumatoid arthritis (RA), 1.2 per cent Spondyloarthropathy (SpA) and 1.4 per cent frozen shoulder. The most commonly affected organs are low back, knees, hips and shoulders, the survey said.
The survey titled Prevalence of Rheumatic Pain and Disorders in Bangladeshi Adults was conducted on 2,000 people in 14 districts of the country in 2014 and 2015.
Most of the patients with rheumatic diseases are not aware of the type of their disease as there is no rheumatology department in government medical college hospitals.
Confused about the disease, the patients very often go to orthopaedic or physical medicine doctors for consultation, but they do not get the proper treatment, experts said.
Chairman of the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical Universitys (BSMMUs) Rheumatology Department Prof Minhaj Rahim Choudhury said a full-fledged rheumatology department should be opened in other government hospitals to ensure the perfect treatment to a large number of people suffering from rheumatic diseases.
Patients with such diseases dont know where they should go and which physician can provide them with perfect treatment. If therere dedicated rheumatology departments in the hospitals, they can easily choose the right physicians for the treatment of their diseases, he said.
Noting that there is a separate department for rheumatic disorders in the hospitals of most of the countries across the globe, Minhaj Rahim said, The perfect treatment of rheumatic diseases is not possible from orthopaedic or physical medicine doctors.
Two years back, Bangladesh Rheumatologists Society placed a demand before the Health Ministry through the Directorate General of Health Services to open rheumatology departments in all the 14 government medical college hospitals as well as district and upazila-level government hospitals in phases, he added. In the past, medicine experts used to provide treatment at the BSMMU for rheumatic diseases through its Rheumatology Clinic, which was upgraded to Rheumatology Wing in 1999 and to a full-fledged Rheumatology Department in 2012, the department chief said, adding, Now on average, 170-190 patients avail themselves of the treatment from the department every day.
He said an FCPS course was introduced in Bangladesh College of Physician and Surgeon while an MD (Doctor of Medicine) course in BSMMU on the discipline in 2009 to reduce the crisis of rheumatologists in the country. Some 35 students have already completed MD course in BSMMU, he said. With a rise in rheumatic diseases, a rheumatology clinic was also opened at Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital in 2007, at Chittagong Medical College Hospital in 2009 and Dhaka Medical College Hospital in 2010, while a rheumatology corner was opened in Rangpur Medical College Hospital in 2010.
DGHS Director General Prof Dr Abul Kalam Azad also admitted that it is not possible to provide appropriate treatment of rheumatic diseases by orthopaedic and physical medicine doctors. With the increase in the average life expectancy in the country, the prevalence of old-age diseases, including rheumatic ones, is on the rise, he said.
