Dhaka: The number of dengue patients and deaths is increasing exponentially across the country. Doctors usually advise dengue patients to drink enough liquid food. Patients undergoing treatment in hospitals have become hostage to green coconut traders for liquid food. There are allegations that each green coconut is sold for Tk. 150 to Tk. 180, depending on the quality and size.
A visit to the Dhaka Medical College Hospital and Mugda General Hospital area shows several mobile green coconut shops in front of the main gate of the hospital. The customers of each green coconut shop are hospital patients, especially the relatives of those who have come for treatment due to dengue. They are forced to buy green coconut for dengue patients at whatever price the sellers are charging.
Daub traders say that the demand for daub is high due to the increase in dengue patients. Compared to that, they have to sell it at a higher price due to the lack of supply.
Doctors are advising patients to drink green coconut due to the dengue outbreak because green contains potassium. But traders are taking advantage of the increased demand for green coconut due to dengue.
A dengue-affected husband is admitted to Dhaka Medical College Hospital. Rubina Akhter is feeding her husband by buying green coconut from the hospital gate. She told Barta24.com, "I bought a small green coconut for 170 taka, which should have cost 80-90 taka if it was more expensive. They are charging a higher price because it is next to the hospital."
Rubina Akhter complained that no matter what the price, the green coconut has to be bought for the patient. They are taking advantage of the opportunity to cut into people's pockets.
Abdul Khalek, who drinks green coconut water every day, told Barta24.com that a large green coconut cost 50 taka three-four years ago. The price has increased almost threefold since then. He said, "People like me who have to drink it every day due to illness are in great difficulty. Now everything is beyond their means."
A relative of a dengue patient named Sajjadur was saying in front of Mugda Hospital that buying a green coconut is a big expense, like treatment which is not possible for everyone to afford.
A seller named Majid Mollah told Barta24.com, "Today I bought 100 green coconut for 14,500 taka. That is, an average of 145 taka each. Of these, not all are of the same size. The small ones have to be sold below 150 taka. That is why the big ones cannot be sold below 170 taka."
When the issue of such excessive prices of green coconut was brought to the attention of Mohammad Alim Akhtar Khan, Director General of the National Consumer Rights Protection Department, he told Barta24.com, "Currently, the national issue is to control food prices. Since dengue infection is increasing, there have been complaints of increasing prices of green coconut. We will soon conduct a campaign in this regard."
Meanwhile, there are more than two months left for the end of this year. In the meantime, 53,196 patients admitted to hospitals in the country due to dengue have been infected with Aedes. At the same time, 264 people have died from this Aedes mosquito-borne disease. Of these, 101 people died of dengue on 23 days of this October.