FE Report
Speakers at a programme said Saturday the government has been constructing various healthcare infrastructures but those are not fully functional due to lack of adequate manpower.
They said health is not about healthcare only but it is related with water, sanitation, cleanliness, nutrition and overall lifestyle to make a person physically fit. The government must increase health budget and change its attitude towards developing health workforce to achieve the universal health coverage (UHC), they added.
They also suggested that the authority start UHC by bringing the poor and ultra-poor under health insurance and by establishing partnership with local government institutions.
They made the observations at a two-day national event on 'Progressing on UHC: Awareness for Action'. Power and Participation Research Centre (PPRC) in collaboration with USAID organised the programme.
PPRC executive chairman Hossain Zillur Rahman said the government has been constructing many infrastructures but they are not playing a role in keeping those functional. Citing an example, he said there is 250-bed hospital but one-third or one-fourth manpower is missing.
"The government should focus on this area. We do not only need infrastructures but also functional infrastructures," he said.
The responsibility does not only lie with the government, but also with the local community which will have to play a role in keeping those functional, he added.
Mr Zillur, a former caretaker government adviser, also said there are many good initiatives at grassroots level. For example, there is a mayor-doctor community support platform in Jhenidah. They recruit necessary manpower on their own and pay for small works in hospitals.
In Satkhira municipality, there is a very good example of sludge management by setting up a small sludge treatment plant.
"The local platforms can make the government departments accountable. Municipality has an important role in ensuring accountability and mobilizing community support to make the public hospitals functional," he said.
UHC is defined as all people have access to needed promotive, curative and rehabilitative health services. These services should be of sufficient quality to be effective while also ensuring that people do not face financial hardship while paying for these services.
Mr Zillur said many people slip into poverty due to excessive cost of health services while productivity decreases for lack of physical fitness.
"We have been losing productivity due to lack of physical fitness. Non-communicable diseases are rising challenges. We must give more importance to health for various reasons including more awareness," he said.
In a panel discussion, Dr Rashid-E-Mahbub said Bangladesh has not been able to start UHC yet except for a pilot project of insurance model in Tangail.
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