For economic growth, higher productivity is vital. Higher productivity can be sustained through a healthy lifestyle and proper healthcare. But still many people in our country do not have access to quality healthcare services.
According to Bangladesh National Health Accounts (BNHA), Bangladeshi patients pay the highest amount in treatment and medicine costs in whole of South Asia. Bearing treatment cost is most difficult for poor people. It has been revealed by some recent studies that every year at least five million people are entering the poverty line to pay for medicine and treatment costs in the country.
Our government has taken multi-sectoral initiatives to ensure better services in public health sector. Patients are receiving treatment at a low cost in the government hospitals. This is why, these are always crowded. However, corruption, delay in receiving services and treatment, misuse of government allocation for patients and other issues often push most patients to go to private hospitals and clinics. But expensive treatment at the private hospitals often causes patients to even sell their properties and other assets. Most of these private institutions are not properly regulated. This allows doctors to charge exorbitant fees for their services and also prescribe unnecessary medical tests to earn commission from the diagnostic centres.
It is, therefore, clear that healthcare services in Bangladesh have not reached everybody.
Good governance should be implemented in order to preserve quality in services, medicines and treatment in the healthcare sector. Awareness of people about their own health would also help the cause.
Ariful Islam
Department of Sociology,
University of Barisal.
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