Where the nameless find care

Sujan Mia arrived at the Neurology ward of the Dhaka Medical College Hospital around 8:30am. He would stay till 2pm.

His eyes scanned the room, doing a headcount of the patients. There were two more than yesterday.

Although not a registered worker, Sujan has been working in this ward for 16 years. He makes around Tk10,000-Tk20,000 by tying patients' bandages or taking them for X-rays on trolleys. Although one is asked not to tip, it is considered customary.

Sujan lives in a rented house at Keraniganj. He has three children and a wife to support on his salary, meaning he doesn't like to waste time. Every patient means extra money.

As he makes his way to the storeroom, where gauze and medicines are, his eyes wander and rest on two unconscious patients, who lie on the balcony of the ward.

These are the nameless ones.

Pouring through the patients' register, one can get a better sense of why the two patients are kept in the balcony as opposed to the ward proper.

Each patient was named "Aggatanama" (unidentified) or Unknown. At least 5-7 such patients are received in the ward every day.

They are usually brought in by passers-by or the police. A common story is the patients were found on the sides of roads, usually unconscious. They can't even say their names during admission.

Sometimes, police officials give their names, while passers-by often give false names.

The neurology ward caters to people who are brought in states of little to no consciousness.

Tips are rare from such visitors, but Sujan is drawn to them anyway.

Of the last two patients he saw on the day, one's left foot would need to be amputated. The patient was in a delirious state. He had also a badly-injured head, with even facial injuries evident.

When the clock struck two, Sujan approached the patient with the badly injured foot. The man had been administered pain killers just before he lost consciousness due to the excruciating agony.

Sujan then cleaned the man's foot with distilled water, saline and hydrogen-peroxide. He then slowly scraped off the rotting skin and bandaged the foot after applying disinfectant.

The man, still unconscious, mumbled something. His lips quivered. Sujan noticed more wounds on the man's knees and applied a bandage.

By the third day, the man had woken up. But he needed a bath and Sujan was happy to oblige.

Afterwards, when Sujan was on his way home, the man stopped Sujan.

"Do you need something to eat?" Sujan asked.

The man said no and urged Sujan to come closer. "I'm a poor man. But the love you have shown me will never be forgotten," he replied.

Sujan had done a good job. But his work was far from done. Many more nameless would come again and Sujan would once again be there for them.

Lost, maybe not forgotten

A hospital staffer at the hospital said a number of unidentified people could be found in different wards.

"These are poor people. Some have been living on the roads for years. They have no contact with relatives. They also cannot remember anyone," he said.

Why did so many end up in the hospital on a daily basis?

"They get into accidents while crossing the road. Some get into fights over the space they use to sleep at night or over money," the staffer said.

He also said the patients weren't only restricted to the lower-income groups.

"There are patients from well-off families too. Most have amnesia. Some recover and then search for their relatives. Many others are found through photos uploaded by relatives or friends on social media," he said.

The hospital director, Brigadier General Md Nazmul Haque, said, "This is a government hospital. We are committed to serve all the patients present here. However, providing services to unidentified patients is not in the Citizen's Charter. If someone is sick or injured on the street, people bring them here. But if we get 50 such patients in a month, we don't have the extra management required for them," he said.

He said a patient needed nurses, food, medicines, bandages, saline, X-rays, etc.

"Now if the government does not set up a system for such patients, everyone else will also suffer. It is better if such patients can be distributed equally and not only in this hospital. For humanitarian reasons we do it, but how long can we continue?" he asked.

According to sources, when an unidentified person dies, the body is given to the custody of the police if they have registered the patient or it is taken by Anjuman Mufidul Islam, a welfare organisation, for burial.