File photo

BY Meah Mohammed Arif 

CHATTOGRAM, June 22, 2025 (BSS) – Chattogram Medical College Hospital (CMCH), a leading public healthcare facility in the port city, will soon get an angiogram machine to beef up cardiovascular treatment at affordable costs for hearth patients , especially the insolvent ones. 

At present, CMCH are providing such live-saving emergency treatment to patients with only one cath lab which is at risk of breaking down at any time due to excessive pressure.  

CMCH’s low-cost services, a lifeline for poor and needy heart patients in greater Chattogram, remained partially closed for two weeks after a technical glitch in a machine due to huge pressure. 

The government has decided to transfer a new angiogram machine which has remained unused at Manikganj Medical College Hospital to the cardiology department of CMCH. 

The Health Ministry has finalized the transfer of the angiogram machine to CHMCH bringing hope to heart patients in Chattogram. Five years ago, the Health Ministry allocated two angiogram machines to Manikganj Medical College Hospital.

 In the 2018-19 fiscal year, the contracting company HTMS and in the 2020-21 fiscal year, the trading farm supplied two cath labs to Manikganj Medical College Hospital. 

However, due to a shortage of skilled manpower, the hospital authorities were unable to use these machines. 

Therefore, to alleviate patient pressure, the Ministry of Health decided to send one of these machines to CMCH

 On May 8 this year, a notification signed by Md. Shahadat Hossain Kabir, Deputy Secretary of the Government Health Management-1 Branch of the Health Services Department of the Ministry of Health, said the transfer of a suitable cath lab from Manikganj Medical College Hospital to CMCH is necessary to provide uninterrupted medical services to a large number of patients in the port city.

 In this situation, instructions have been given to take necessary measures to transfer a suitable cath lab from Manikganj Medical College Hospital to CMCH.

National Electro- Medical Equipment Maintenance Workshop & Training will provide necessary technical advice and assistance in this regard, according to the notification. 

 Sources in the cardiology department of CMCH Hospital mentioned that work has been going on for the past four years to perform TPM, PPM, angiograms, peripheral angiograms and blood vessel rings using a machine of the Japanese brand Shimadzu. 

The machine was shut down for about two weeks in January last year due to mechanical faults from excessive pressure. The supplier company repaired it. 

 Additionally, the picture tube of another angiogram machine was damaged in late 2021, with an estimated repair cost of TK 1.8 crore that has not been completed. 
  
Doctors in the cardiology department said that resolving the angiogram machine crisis would increase work efficiency.

 Nazrul Islam Talukder, a cardiologist at CMCH, highlighted the cost difference between government and private hospitals for heart treatment saying that bringing an unused machine from Manikganj would help CMCH to offer affordable service to heart patients in greater Chattogram. 
 
Professor Dr. Nur Uddin Tarek, Head of the Cardiology Department at CMCH, mentioned the increasing pressure of the heart patients and said an additional machine would be a great help  to offer patients proper treatment. 
  
Brigadier General Mohammad Taslim Uddin, Director of CMCH, confirmed that the unused angiogram machine from Manikganj Medical College Hospital will soon reach the cardiology department of CMCH Hospital. 

He said necessary funds have been allocated for bringing the machine.