Students strike, Chattogram medical dental unit locked over severe resource crisis

Concern etched on his face, 65-year-old Abdus Sattar arrived in Chattogram from Noakhali today (13 October) morning, carrying a file in one hand and his son with a toothache in the other. A local doctor had advised him to visit Chattogram Medical College (CMCH) for better treatment. 

However, upon reaching the Dental Unit, he was greeted by a locked gate and an empty unit, with only a crowd of frustrated patients outside. Bowing his head in despair, he repeatedly asked, "What do I do now?"

Sattar was not alone. Salman Mia, an economics student at Chattogram University, had fractured his jaw a month ago. Coming for a follow-up, he too was met with a locked door. "I came to see a doctor, but the door is locked. Now where do I go?" he asked, visibly disappointed. 

Ahmed Islam from Hathazari arrived in severe pain, only to find the unit closed, clutching his head and lamenting, "Do they even understand our suffering?" Hundreds of patients were forced to return home without care throughout the day.

The shutdown follows a protest and indefinite strike by students and intern doctors of the Dental Unit, demanding the establishment of a full-fledged dental college in Chattogram. 

The strike began yesterday morning, citing long-standing infrastructure weaknesses, lack of equipment, insufficient classrooms, and inadequate sterilisation facilities, which make patient care nearly impossible.