Infant’s death prompts move to reopen ICU at Dhaka’s Infectious Diseases Hospital
Operation of the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at the Infectious Diseases Hospital (IDH) in Dhaka's Mohakhali is set to resume today (March 17, 2026) after more than a year of inactivity, following the death of an eight-month-old who could not access critical care.
The little boy named Sayeed, from Savar, was admitted to the 100-bed facility on Saturday (March 14) morning with measles and fever. His condition later worsened as he developed respiratory complications and was placed on oxygen support.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. Doctors recommended ICU care as his health deteriorated.
However, ICU services at the hospital have remained inoperative since June 2024, after a project under which the unit had been established and staffed expired.
The child's family subsequently tried to transfer him to several hospitals, but they declined, citing the risk of measles infection to other ICU patients, hospital sources said.
Doctors at IDH also attempted to manage ICU-level care but were unsuccessful. Sayeed died around 9:00pm yesterday (March 16).
The incident triggered outrage and grief, and drew the attention of higher authorities.
Health Minister Sardar Md Sakhawat Husain, accompanied by the health secretary and other senior officials, visited the hospital at midnight and assured that ICU operations would resume within a day.
“The condition of the boy was very critical and he required ICU support. But the ICU at this hospital remained inoperative... Other hospitals usually do not take patients with such infectious diseases,” the minister told reporters.
“We came here after learning about the incident... We will resume ICU operations by tomorrow (March 17) by any means, including attaching doctors,” he added.
ICUs with a total of 240 beds were established in hospitals across 22 districts between 2020 and 2023 under the COVID-19 Emergency Response and Pandemic Preparedness (ERPP) Project, largely funded by the World Bank.
More than 1,000 staff members, including medical officers and technicians, were recruited to operate the units.
At IDH, a five-bed ICU was set up under the project and became operational in 2021. A total of 12 doctors were appointed for the unit, according to sources at the hospital and the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
However, contracts of the workforce, including those at IDH, expired in June 2024. The interim government neither renewed these contracts nor appointed replacements, rendering the ICU non-functional.
Hospital sources said they have written on several occasions to the higher authorities seeking manpower to run the ICU but to no avail.
The ICU and High Dependency Unit are located on the fourth floor of the hospital.
During a visit to the unit at noon today, a nurse told this correspondent it had already been cleaned in preparation for reopening.
“Upon instructions from the health minister, we have already taken the necessary preparations to resume ICU operations today,” said Tanzina Jahan, superintendent of the hospital.
She added that four doctors have been attached to the hospital and a roster of nurses has been prepared to run the ICU.
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