Make oxygen plants functional at hospitals

The picture of the oxygen management system in government hospitals that emerged from a review at the Bangladesh Oxygen Summit 2026, recently held at Independent University Bangladesh (IUB) in the capital, is quite disappointing. According to the report, 61 of the 99 oxygen plants in different government hospitals are now non-functional, while only 38 remain functional.
Such a situation and inconsistency in the health and medical sector really evoke our concern. We know that the government installed these oxygen generator plants when hospitals faced an oxygen crisis during the Covid-19 pandemic, spending a lot of public money. As 62 per cent of the oxygen plants are not functioning, the government now has to spend crores of taka to purchase cylinders or liquid oxygen to supply at these hospitals. However, leaving them non-functional is not only resulting in a waste of huge public funds but also depriving many patients of emergency oxygen, forcing them to buy cylinders for treatment, which is quite expensive.
Meanwhile, another sorry picture of the country’s health education is also worth focusing on. A report published in a Bangla daily yesterday has revealed that many medical colleges are conducting educational activities without their own land, buildings and campuses. It has been found that 16 medical colleges are suffering from teacher shortages. There are allegations that examinations are not being conducted properly. They are imparting education without necessary classrooms or laboratories. There are no accommodation facilities or hostels for students in many cases. Another issue is that, as the medical colleges do not have their own hospitals, students have to depend on district (Sadar) hospitals, which do not have registrars to supervise their activities.
It is undeniable that in medical education, classroom teaching and practical learning are equally important. Very unfortunately, these issues are not allegedly being monitored by the authorities concerned.
Such irregularities and negligence in the country’s health sector and medical education should disturb our conscience. The authorities must immediately take steps to restore the functioning of the oxygen plants and ensure that all the medical colleges, which the authorities have given approval to operate, must appoint necessary teachers and provide all essential facilities. Otherwise, the state and people will have to bear the consequences of such neglect in the future, as students with deficiencies in their education cannot be expected to become good doctors or provide better services to the people.