Scams in the health sector, ranging from the forging of fake COVID-19 test certificates to the supply of fake masks and substandard protective gear, are alarmingly on the rise as authorities concerned take inadequate action until an issue is taken up by mainstream media.

The number of scams is increasing as a section of people responsible for taking action remains mysteriously inactive while proper monitoring is also absent and coordination among the authorities is poor, experts said.

‘The culture of impunity and occasional actions prompted the opportunists to innovate the means of forgery and this is exactly what happened across the country,’ former caretaker government adviser M Hafizuddin Kahn told.

The incident of providing fake COVID-19 test reports by Regent Hospital and JKG Health Care shacked the country while people also witnessed thievery in relief distributions, including the attempt to embezzle money from the allocation for cash incentives meant for the needy by enlisting fake cell numbers poor people, supplying fake N95 masks to government hospitals and personal protective equipment to physicians as well as producing fake plasma donors for COVID-19 treatment.

Experts said that the authorities failed to ensure the much-needed monitoring as a section of people from the controlling agencies were involved or favoured the suspected frauds.

After Regent owner Shahed’s arrest, it was revealed that the government supplied costly medical equipment to Regent Hospital, about which no account exists as those have apparently gone missing after the hospital was sealed off.

Experts said that such an incident of providing government equipment to private hospitals is the proof of a relationship between the owner of the hospital and the authority concerned.

According to the law enforcement agencies, at least 55 people were arrested in 12 cases in connection to COVID-19 test-related forgeries in the last two months, according to the police.

Directorate General of Drug Administration data showed that they carried out at least 153 raids with different law enforcing agencies from April to mid-July which led to 442 cases filed for manufacturing and selling fake, subpar and adulterated COVID-19 protective gear, sanitisers and medicines.

At least 48 people were arrested in these drivers and around Tk 2.23 crore were fined, the data showed.

DGDA director Ayub Hossain told that they were alarmed at COVID-19-related frauds in the drug sector and emphasised market monitoring and raids in coordination with other agencies to check such forgeries.

The first COVID-19 report forgery was detected in Savar on June 4 when a number of readymade garments workers were found with fake COVID-19 certificates and police arrested two people in this connection.

Later, RAB personnel detained four people, including an Ansar member posted in Mugda General Hospital, on June 15 from a photocopying shop near the hospital on charge of printing fake COVID-19 negative and positive certificates.

One of the major certificate forgeries were unearthed on June 23, when JKG Health Care officials were arrested after over 15,000 fake certificates were seized from the facility.

Four cases were filed in the scam and 29 people so far have been arrested, said Kamal Hossain, an inspector of Tejgoan police station.

A drive in Regent Hospital on July 6 unearthed another major COVID-19 fraud where three cases were filed and 12 people, including the hospital chairman Md Shahed, were arrested, said RAB media wing director Ashique Billah.

Shahbuddin Medical College Hospital’s three officials were arrested in Dhaka and five other were arrested in Pabna in separate incidents of COVID-19 test fraudulence.

Police headquarters spokesperson assistant inspector general Sohel Rana told  that all the units of police were in vigilance and carrying out drivers against any kind of COVID-19-related forgeries.

He said that the force was carrying out awareness campaign in social media and also receiving complaints from users and taking actions accordingly.

According to the local government ministry, since the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak, over 100 public representatives have been suspended on charge of their alleged involvement in irregularities in the relief distribution process while the Anti-Corruption Commission has initiated an investigation into the alleged corruption and irregularities by 94 union parishad chairmen and members.

The commission made a list of 30 UP chairmen and 64 UP members in the past month following media reports that they allegedly embezzled relief goods meant for the poor, ACC director for public relations Pranab Kumar Bhattacharjee told.

According to media reports, a huge number of needy people were deprived of government aid meant for them on the account of the coronavirus cr