Dying from cold is tragic but it is more so when the victims are mostly children. When the country has made considerable progress in the garments sector with the market-place flooded by cheap old seasonal clothes there is no justification for lives being lost in this way. We feel that the death and miseries caused by a cold wave though of a much shorter duration, has an equally adverse impact, if not more, on lives of people like that of monga, yet another annual scourge in the region.

The situation is rather aggravated when critically sick new-born babies are denied adequate access to medicare and attention. We are talking of poor families who come with their babies to city-based hospitals where they are often denied treatment due to purported lack of accommodation and related facilities.

It is not understandable as to why families have to come to as far as Dhaka and other major district towns looking for urgent medical attention for their sick babies and children. Surely, the administration is capable of making required health services available at the respective thana levels that are reflexively responsive to cold spells on short notice. Simultaneously, there could be ready stock of warm clothes for distribution amongst affected families. This will certainly be an investment in the cause of humanity with high returns that is not only feasible but could very well be met out of our own resources.