As the number of people suffering from diarrhoeal diseases has marked a sharp rise in the capital, ICDDR,B and the Directorate General of Health Services have joined forces to establish three new diarrhoea management centres within the existing government facilities in the city.
Converting research into action, the first of the new treatment centres has already been established at Tongi Sadar Hospital, while the two others will soon be set up at Dhaka Mohanagar General Hospital at Naya Bazar and Lalbagh Shishu Hospital.
Experts from ICDDR,B will prepare the treatment protocol and train doctors and staff at each of the three centres. They will also provide advice on infrastructure improvements and 50 diarrhoea cots for the use by patients.
This was recently announced at a ceremony held in the city. Professor Be-Nazir Ahmed, director, disease control and line director, CDC, DGHS, and Dr PK Bardhan, chief physician of ICDDR,B Dhaka Hospital, were present.
ICDDR,B acting executive director Dr Abbas Bhuiya and its medical director Dr Mark Pietroni formally handed over the diarrhoea cots to Dr Benazir Ahmed at the function.
Dr Azharul Islam Khan of ICDDR,B and Professor Be-Nazir Ahmed will be leading this collaboration. All the three centres will have 50 beds each.
Talking to UNB, Be-Nazir Ahmed said on an average some 750-800 patients are being admitted to ICDDR,B Dhaka Hospital everyday and the number of the patients might increase during the hot season.
‘An increase in diarrhoea patients in the hospital depends on the rains and hot weather,’ he said.
Dr Be-Nazir Ahmed said there are some areas, including Badda, Gulshan, Jatrabari, Mirpur and Lalbagh, in the capital where contaminated supplied water causes diarrhoea.
‘The government is going to undertake necessary measures to reduce water contamination in those areas,’ he added.
According to ICDDR,B, March and April are considered to be ‘peak season’ for diarrhoeal diseases in Dhaka city. ICDDR,B Dhaka Hospital and Mirpur Treatment Centre receive a very high number of patients suffering from diarrhea in the season.
While almost all the patients admitted to the hospitals leave after receiving adequate treatment, many more are unable to make the long journey from different parts of the city and often succumb to severe dehydration before they are able to receive life saving treatment. 
ICDDR,B has so far treated approximately 17,324 patients since the beginning of March.
It said Apart from changes in weather patterns and increasing resistance of certain pathogens to drugs, the rapid urbanisation of Dhaka city seems to be playing a role in increasing the numbers and changing types of diarrhea patients.