Reza Mahmud :
Several fatalities and distressing events have occurred during circumcision procedures across Bangladesh recently, violating the World Health Organization’s Patient Safety policies and practices and profoundly affecting the nation.
It is alarming that such incidents continue to occur, despite circumcision being a routine practice for centuries.
Traditionally, Muslim communities have entrusted ‘Hazam’ with performing circumcisions, a practice carried out for years without significant issues or tragic outcomes.
However, Bangladesh has recently experienced a series of serious incidents and deaths related to circumcision.
On December 31, a five-year-old child, Ayan Ahmed, never awoke after being anesthetized for circumcision at United Medical College Hospital in Satarkul. Ayan was put on life support and passed away on January 7 at United Hospital in Gulshan, Dhaka.
This tragic event was followed by another death on January 20, when a 10-year-old child, Ahnaf Tahmin Ayham, died following a circumcision procedure at JS Diagnostic Center in Malibagh’s Chowdhury Para.
The loss of two children to circumcision procedures within two months has sparked widespread concern across the country.
Additionally, other incidents related to circumcision have been reported, including the case of Tofayel Ahmed Tamim, a 12-year-old from Habiganj, who became severely ill after excessive bleeding during a circumcision procedure at a local hospital in Aushkandi.
Tamim was later transferred to Sylhet for advanced treatment after the initial hospital could not control the bleeding.
Public health experts emphasize the urgent need to halt such incidents to reassure parents about the safety of their children’s circumcisions. They advocate for the development of guidelines to ensure physicians can perform these traditional procedures safely.
Professor Dr. M. Muzaherul Huq, former Advisor to the World Health Organization (WHO), expressed his shock at the news of children dying during circumcision, emphasizing the importance of thorough investigations into these unexpected and unnatural deaths.
“It surprises me when I see in newspapers that children die during circumcision” he said adding that all such deaths have to be taken seriously and properly investigated by appropriate authorities as unexpected unnatural deaths are on the rise.
Similarly, Professor Dr. Be-Nazir Ahmed, a prominent public health expert, suggested that reactions to anesthesia might play a role in these tragic incidents.
“Anesthesia’s reaction might have played a role behind these sorrowful incidents. Proper guidelines have to be prepared for containing such incidents during the medical procedures, not only for circumcision but also for all types of surgery,” he said.
He stressed the need for proper guidelines to prevent such occurrences during medical procedures, not just circumcisions, and called for strict monitoring to ensure adherence to these guidelines.
Professor Be-Nazir added that the general practice of surgery in the country is that doctors have to read books as their academic lessons. Then associate professors used to impart hands-on experience on how to do operations. Then they used to practise and learn more day after day from the senior professors in practical fields.
In response to these incidents, Health Minister Samanta Lal Sen announced that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has demanded a ‘zero tolerance’ policy towards those responsible for the recent deaths during circumcision procedures, indicating the government’s commitment to addressing this issue.
