Dengue outbreak: Ctg pharmacies overcharging Tk90-dextrose saline at Tk500

Unscrupulous pharmacy owners and sales representatives of pharmaceutical companies are allegedly stockpiling and selling dextrose saline at much higher prices in Chattogram, taking advantage of the heightened demand amid the dengue outbreak.

Businessman Fakhrul Islam went to the Chawkbazar area to buy saline for his dengue-infected kid. But he did not find the item essential in the treatment process for dengue at several stores. Eventually, he managed to buy two saline solutions for Tk600 which was tagged Tk90 per piece.

While talking to The Business Standard, a number of relatives of dengue patients at National Hospital and Agrabad Mother and Child Hospital also said they had to buy the saline at exorbitant prices, reaching up to Tk500.

The Business Standard correspondent visited the Panchlaish, Chawkbazar, and Kazi Deuri areas of the port city on Wednesday and hardly found any dextrose saline in pharmacies there. In some areas, the saline solutions were seen selling at Tk300-500. 

However, owners and sellers at pharmacies said dextrose saline is in short supply. Normally, they sell 10-12 units of dextrose saline daily, but now the demand has increased to 30-50 units.

"Despite the increase in demand, there has been a saline crisis as pharmaceutical companies did not increase supply accordingly," Riyad Hasan of Al-Madina Pharmacy in the city's Mehedibag area said.

Regarding the crisis, Chattogram General Hospital Supervisor Sheikh Fazle Rabbi said, "Despite the increase in demand, we are providing the first three to four saline to the patients. However, additional pressure from patients in private hospitals is affecting the market."

Admitting the matter, a Metropolitan Hospital doctor, wishing anonymity, said, "We don't even have saline and buy it from outside at an increased price."

Regarding supply shortage, Mohammad Tarek, senior administration officer at Beximco Pharma, told TBS that "The demand for dextrose saline has tripled across the country following the dengue outbreak. We are struggling to meet Dhaka's demand and the rest of the cities are experiencing a shortage. The company is working to increase production."

Chattogram Deputy Commissioner Abul Basar Mohammad Fakhruzzaman said, "As there is a shortage of dextrose saline, we will talk to the pharmaceutical companies. If necessary, we will talk to the health ministry. Strict vigilance will continue to control the higher prices of the saline."

Meanwhile, the district administration and directorate general of drug administration conducted raids on Chattogram's biggest wholesale drug market, Hazari Lane on Tuesday being informed about the increase in the saline price. 

So far 2,241 people have been hospitalised with dengue and 23 of them died this year in Chattogram. At present, 278 people are undergoing treatment in different hospitals in the  district.