Health experts have called for a substantial increase in budget allocations for the prevention and treatment of non-communicable diseases (NCDs).
They warned that inadequate funding is undermining efforts to tackle illnesses responsible for more than 70 per cent of deaths in Bangladesh.
They said NCDs, which account for the vast majority of deaths in the country, require greater policy attention as the number of patients continues to rise, leading to an increasing mortality burden.
The four major NCDs affecting Bangladesh are hypertension, diabetes, cancer and cardiovascular disease.
The prevalence of these illnesses continues to increase, along with the number of related deaths.
"There is only one specialised asthma hospital in the capital, but we need such facilities in every district, from primary to secondary healthcare level," health expert Prof Dr Be-nazir Ahmed, former director (Disease Control) of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), told The Financial Express.
He said cardiovascular diseases are spreading rapidly among younger people, while cancer has emerged as a major public health concern.
"We have only one specialised cancer hospital. We need at least one in every division," he said, adding that cancer has become one of the leading causes of death in Bangladesh.
Prof Ahmed said dedicated budget allocations were needed for both the prevention and treatment of NCDs.
He noted that programmes such as the distribution of anti-hypertensive medicines through community clinics had previously been disrupted after the government abolished the traditional Operational Plans (OPs), although the service later resumed following a special allocation.
Prof Syed Abdul Hamid of the Institute of Health Economics at the University of Dhaka said funding for NCD programmes could be drawn from the development component of the national health budget.
"However, the allocation must be channelled through projects, as development funds cannot be disbursed as cash," he told The Financial Express.
"The total development budget for this fiscal year is around Tk 350 billion. Of that, about Tk 120 billion has already been committed to ongoing projects. The remaining allocation in FY2026-27 could be used to strengthen NCD programmes," he said.
However, he cautioned that delays in project planning, design and approval could result in development funds remaining unspent, a recurring problem in the health sector.
Health rights groups have also been advocating increased investment in NCD prevention and treatment.
Research by PROGGA (Knowledge for Progress), a Dhaka-based health advocacy organisation, shows that every Tk 1 invested in hypertension screening and treatment generates an estimated return of Tk 18.
However, the organisation said inadequate budget allocations have prevented the uninterrupted supply of anti-hypertensive medicines at primary healthcare facilities across the country.
The government earlier doubled the health budget for FY2026-27 to Tk 694.09 billion, raising health expenditure to more than 1.0 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) for the first time.
Of the total allocation, Tk 350.26 billion has been earmarked for development expenditure and Tk 278.26 billion for operating expenditure.
Despite the country's growing disease burden, only 4.2 per cent of the total health budget has been allocated to NCD control.
According to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics' (BBS) 'Health and Morbidity Status Survey 2025', hypertension is the most prevalent disease among the country's top 10 illnesses.
Hypertension is also one of the leading risk factors for heart disease, stroke, kidney disease and several other non-communicable diseases.
According to the World Health Organization's 2025 report, around 283,800 people died from cardiovascular diseases in Bangladesh in 2024, with hypertension contributing to 52 per cent of those deaths.
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