With Bangladeshis spending over USD 4 billion in healthcare tourism every year, experts at a seminar have opined that it is essential for producing world class doctors and establishing equally top-notch medical facilities in the country to save a significant amount of public money.
The observation was made at the seminar titled "Reversing the Outbound Healthcare Tourism" held at the office of Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI) located in the capital's Motijheel area.
DCCI President Ashraf Ahmed in his opening remarks said that an increasingly larger number of people from the middle income households were seeking healthcare services from abroad.
He said that despite availability of treatment here in Bangladesh, the demand for medical tourism abroad was growing unabated.
"We need to remember, customer satisfaction comes not just with the treatment, but also from the whole ecosystem, which is run by everyone in a hospital, from nurses to administrative officials and medical technologists," he said.
"The DCCI president said the way of reversing the trend of outbound medical tourism is set to outperform the regional competition; we need to be better in terms of quality of medical services, provide better customer satisfaction and most importantly be more reliable both in measurable index and branding," he said.
"We need to be more open to foreign doctors, nurses, medical technologists and other specialists," Mr Ashraf Ahmed opined.
He said that the trend of rising outbound health tourism is not caused by price differential, as travel and living expenses make foreign treatment insignificantly more expensive.
He said that according to World Trade Organisation data, 49 per cent of the people in Bangladesh do not have access to quality healthcare; moreover, the tendency to seek healthcare services abroad is increasing due to lack of international standards required in the local market.
He also underscored the need for ensuring the use of advanced infrastructure and modern technology for the development of the country's healthcare ecosystem and increasing budgetary support. Launching branches of international hospitals Bangladesh and simplifying the registration process for foreign doctors and nurses to operate in Bangladesh were also among the suggestions he provided.
He also suggested removing the procedural complexities of obtaining and renewing all types of licenses in the health sector. Introducing digital system and providing tax exemption facilities to encourage private sector hospital operations in remote areas of the country were two other points he shared for the improvement of the country's healthcare ecosystem.
In his keynote paper, DCCI Senior Vice President Malik Talha Ismail Bari said the budget in the health sector is not sufficient.
In the fiscal year (FY) 2024-25, allocation in the health sector was Tk 301.25 billion, which is 3.78 percent of the total budget, he said, adding that per-capita health expenditure in South Asia is USD 401 in public-private partnership, whereas in Bangladesh it is only USD 110.
He said that in 2021, Bangladesh's health expenditure was 2.36 per cent of GDP.
The size of the overseas healthcare tourism from Bangladesh was recorded around USD 4 billion in 2012.
He said that out of total 36 specialised hospitals, 19 are located in the capital while 17 are spread across the rest of the country.
He said that there are total 5,461 private hospitals and clinics in Bangladesh, of them, 1,810 are in the Dhaka division.
National Professor Dr. AK Azad Khan, president, Bangladesh Diabetic Samity, said due to lack of facilities, trust and comfort, patients sometimes go abroad to have healthcare service.
Dr. Md. Liaquat Hossain, registrar (Acting), Bangladesh Medical and Dental Council (BM&DC), said there is a national policy for registering foreign doctors, but the process can be easier.
Dr. Syed Abdul Hamid, professor and former director, Institute of Health Economics, Dhaka University, urged to establish a Medical Accreditation Council as soon as possible.
His suggestions also included forming a Health Service Commission similar to the Judiciary Service Commission to make this sector more functional.
Dr. Rezaul Karim Kazal, professor, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University, said trust is a crucial factor for this sector's development.
Dr. Abul Bashar Md. Jamal, professor of Surgery, Dhaka Medical College Hospital, said, "Bangladesh is a producer of medicines now and we also export in various countries. But in producing medical devices, we are still lagging behind."
He stressed on skilled manpower and training.
Mentioning that there are only 33,000 government doctors out of 134,000 physicians in Bangladesh, he said, "It is satisfactory that more than 10,000 foreign medical students are studying here in different public and private medical colleges."
Dr. Mir Saaduddin Ahmad, secretary general, Bangladesh Society of Emergency Medicine, mentioned that the country managed to handle the Covid-19 situation, when no one went abroad to take treatment. "It reflects our capability in the healthcare sector."
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