The 'community clinic' has already gained world repute beyond the boundary of Bangladesh, reports BSS.
Earlier, these community-based clinics used to provide 30 types of free medicines to people in remote rural areas but recently medicines for high blood pressure and diabetes have been added to the drug list in four upazilas initially under a pilot project.
To reduce the burden of non-communicable diseases on the health sector and to take into account the needs of the people, the government has added drugs for hypertension and diabetes to the list of drugs in community clinics.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina launched this unique community clinic-based health system in Bangladesh in 1998 aiming at bringing all the countrymen under primary healthcare, which made a revolution by reaching the government's primary healthcare at the doorsteps of grassroots people.
Under a pilot project, 86 community clinics of four upazilas (Golapganj, Fenchuganj, Bishwanath and Beanibazar) of Sylhet district have recently been provided with hypertension medicines.
These medicines will be available free of cost in every community clinic in the country from next year.
Officially, it will take some time to launch this programme in community clinics across the country, said Md Quiume Talukder, line director of Community Based Health Care (CBHC) under Health and Family Welfare Ministry.
He said the premier always wants that the medicines of community clinics should be given to patients properly.
On June 25 last, a decision was taken in principle to add hypertension and diabetes drugs to the drug list of community clinics, he said, adding necessary documents have already been sent to the ministry concerned as tender will be issued soon after getting the approval from the ministry.
The implementation of this programme will begin in the current financial year, he said.
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