Gazipur Livestock Hospital in critical condition

Manpower crunch and dearth of medical equipment make diagnoses difficult

The lack of modern equipment and a shortage of adequate manpower are badly hampering the diagnosis and treatment of animals at the District Livestock Hospital in Gazipur. Some old, outdated pieces of equipment have been lying in the hospital’s laboratory for the past few years and these are not functional. The hospital authorities have applied for new and modern equipment to the department concerned, but it has not allocated the equipment yet. As a result, poultry and dairy owners, who have invested huge amounts of money in these sectors, are being deprived of modern treatment for their animals.
According to sources in the Gazipur District Livestock Office, there are more than 5,000 poultry farms in the five upazilas of Gazipur. Among the farms, there are 26 parent stock farms, 3,101 layer farms and 2,344 broiler poultry farms. Besides, there are 97 commercial duck farms, 1,498 cow farms, 242 goat farms, 95 sheep farms, 12 pig farms and a snake farm.
There is a total of 93,53,605 animals in those farms. The farmers of these farms go to the District Livestock Hospital everyday for advice and treatment when their animals fall sick. Besides, there is a lot of parks, resorts and recreation centres in Gazipur, where a number of animals of different species has been kept for tourists. These animals, too, also depend on this District Livestock Hospital for treatment.
Yet, there is no facility for diagnosis of diseases at this hospital. Doctors of the hospital carry out diagnoses unaided, solely on the basis of their experiences. As a result, proper treatment of many diseases is not possible. The doctors have to provide advice and treatment to farm-owners on the basis of very old diagnostic methods, as they have no modern equipment.
District livestock officer Dr Akhil Chandra said, “Lab facilities have not been developed here for a long time. There is no system for performing actual diagnosis. Some of the equipment is nearly 25 years old and have been lying idle.”
“To identify the diseases and select medicines, diagnosis is a crucial aspect. But, thanks to the dearth of modern equipment, we cannot conduct the diagnosis of the diseases. We have to work on the basis of our past experiences and ideas. It is not possible to diagnose the diseases without proper equipment,” he added.
Hospital sources said there are measuring and weighing machines, a glass bit, a measuring cylinder, an oven, a petri dish, and a few chemicals and reagents in this hospital. Again, an autoclave machine, a water distillation plant and an egg incubator are lying idle after they were damaged.
The hospital authorities said to develop the hospital as a full service-based hospital, a laminar air flow machine (for identifying bacteria), a bacteriological incubator, nutrients, an autoclave machine, a bacterial sensitivity disc, a hot water bath, a water re-distillation plant, a cultural loop and a micropipette machine are required. Besides, some chemicals and reagents are also required for various types of tests. At present, farmers have to send for these to the central hospital in Dhaka, in the absence of the necessary equipment and chemical items.
Manpower crunch is another problem facing the hospital. Only one expert doctor, along with the district livestock officer, handles the entire medical treatment activities of the hospital. Hospital sources said in accordance with current needs, at least a pathologist, a senior technologist, two surgeons and an officer should to be appointed.
District livestock officer Dr Akhil Chandra said, “We had applied for the supply of modern equipment and necessary items for the hospital to the director general (DG) of the department of livestock a long time ago. Besides, the director of the Prime Minister’s Office and the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) were also informed about the need for modern equipment. The principal secretary to the PM was also informed about this at the special district development meeting of Gazipur district administration a few months ago. But the issue has not been solved yet.”
Around 40 per cent of the needs of broiler chicken and 50 per cent of the requirements of eggs of the capital city are met by supplies from the different poultry farms of Gazipur. The farm-owners and other stakeholders expect that the government should take urgent initiatives to immediately resolve the equipment and manpower crisis of Gazipur Livestock Hospital, considering the present condition.

 

Gazipur Livestock Hospital in critical condition

Manpower crunch and dearth of medical equipment make diagnoses difficult

The lack of modern equipment and a shortage of adequate manpower are badly hampering the diagnosis and treatment of animals at the District Livestock Hospital in Gazipur. Some old, outdated pieces of equipment have been lying in the hospitals laboratory for the past few years and these are not functional. The hospital authorities have applied for new and modern equipment to the department concerned, but it has not allocated the equipment yet. As a result, poultry and dairy owners, who have invested huge amounts of money in these sectors, are being deprived of modern treatment for their animals. According to sources in the Gazipur District Livestock Office, there are more than 5,000 poultry farms in the five upazilas of Gazipur. Among the farms, there are 26 parent stock farms, 3,101 layer farms and 2,344 broiler poultry farms. Besides, there are 97 commercial duck farms, 1,498 cow farms, 242 goat farms, 95 sheep farms, 12 pig farms and a snake farm. There is a total of 93,53,605 animals in those farms. The farmers of these farms go to the District Livestock Hospital everyday for advice and treatment when their animals fall sick. Besides, there is a lot of parks, resorts and recreation centres in Gazipur, where a number of animals of different species has been kept for tourists. These animals, too, also depend on this District Livestock Hospital for treatment. Yet, there is no facility for diagnosis of diseases at this hospital. Doctors of the hospital carry out diagnoses unaided, solely on the basis of their experiences. As a result, proper treatment of many diseases is not possible. The doctors have to provide advice and treatment to farm-owners on the basis of very old diagnostic methods, as they have no modern equipment. District livestock officer Dr Akhil Chandra said, Lab facilities have not been developed here for a long time. There is no system for performing actual diagnosis. Some of the equipment is nearly 25 years old and have been lying idle. To identify the diseases and select medicines, diagnosis is a crucial aspect. But, thanks to the dearth of modern equipment, we cannot conduct the diagnosis of the diseases. We have to work on the basis of our past experiences and ideas. It is not possible to diagnose the diseases without proper equipment, he added. Hospital sources said there are measuring and weighing machines, a glass bit, a measuring cylinder, an oven, a petri dish, and a few chemicals and reagents in this hospital. Again, an autoclave machine, a water distillation plant and an egg incubator are lying idle after they were damaged. The hospital authorities said to develop the hospital as a full service-based hospital, a laminar air flow machine (for identifying bacteria), a bacteriological incubator, nutrients, an autoclave machine, a bacterial sensitivity disc, a hot water bath, a water re-distillation plant, a cultural loop and a micropipette machine are required. Besides, some chemicals and reagents are also required for various types of tests. At present, farmers have to send for these to the central hospital in Dhaka, in the absence of the necessary equipment and chemical items. Manpower crunch is another problem facing the hospital. Only one expert doctor, along with the district livestock officer, handles the entire medical treatment activities of the hospital. Hospital sources said in accordance with current needs, at least a pathologist, a senior technologist, two surgeons and an officer should to be appointed. District livestock officer Dr Akhil Chandra said, We had applied for the supply of modern equipment and necessary items for the hospital to the director general (DG) of the department of livestock a long time ago. Besides, the director of the Prime Ministers Office and the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) were also informed about the need for modern equipment. The principal secretary to the PM was also informed about this at the special district development meeting of Gazipur district administration a few months ago. But the issue has not been solved yet. Around 40 per cent of the needs of broiler chicken and 50 per cent of the requirements of eggs of the capital city are met by supplies from the different poultry farms of Gazipur. The farm-owners and other stakeholders expect that the government should take urgent initiatives to immediately resolve the equipment and manpower crisis of Gazipur Livestock Hospital, considering the present condition.