Thrust on govt-NGO collaboration for ensuring healthcare services to all

RAJSHAHI, Oct 01 (BSS): Health experts and development activists here unanimously viewed that collective efforts of all government and non-government entities concerned can be the vital means of ensuring health and family planning services to all.

They mentioned that the present government under the dynamic leadership of the Prime Minister has been working relentlessly to ensure health and family planning services to all.

So, all the field level public and private organisations working in this field should supplement the government endeavor through discharging their duties with utmost sincerity and honesty.

They came up with the observation while addressing a "District Level Coordination Meeting on health system strengthening among Directorate General

of Health Services, Directorate General of Family Planning and SRC-DASCOH" at Simanta Conference Hall in Rajshahi city on Monday.

DASCOH Foundation organized the meeting under its 'Public Health Improvement Initiative Rajshahi (PHIIR) Project in association with Swiss Red Cross (SRC).

Some 46 people including health and family planning workers and other stakeholders attended the meeting.

Additional Commissioner of Rajshahi division Aminul Islam addressed the meeting as the chief guest with Divisional Director of Health Dr Anisur Rahman in the chair.

DASCOH Chief Executive Officer Akramul Haque and SRC Health Delegate Angela Bommer spoke as special guests.

During his keynote presentation, Shafiqul Islam, Manager of the project, gave an overview of project status including its lesson learnt and way forward.

He told the meeting that the PHIIR project is being implemented in 73 community clinics, 22 union health and family welfare centres and five upazila health complexes in Rajshahi and Naogaon districts with the main thrust of improving health status at primary health care and mother, neonatal and child health.

Aminul Islam called for infusing more dynamism into the essential service delivery activities of community clinics for ensuring healthcare services to the marginalized communities for their betterment.

He stressed the need on boosting coordination between the works of government and non-government organisations concerned so that the grassroots people can derive total benefits of the community clinics and other upazila and village level health and family planning institutions.