A number of challenges, including regulating and managing the expanding private sector that provides health services and medical education, reducing out of pocket expenditure and mobilising incremental resources for investment, need to be addressed for ensuring quality health services for all, speakers told a session of Bangladesh Development Forum.
Ensuring urban primary health care service delivery particularly for the poor and skilled attendance at birth and reducing maternal mortality ratio (MMR), improving overall nutritional situation including underweight, wasting and stunting are the other major challenges they have mentioned for reducing inequality and ensuring good health for all.
They were addressing the session titled 'Tackling Inequality and Ensuring Health for All' of the two-day Bangladesh Development Forum (BDF) - 2018 held at a city hotel on Wednesday.
Health and Family Welfare Minister Mohammed Nasim chaired the session which was also attended by Bangladesh Development Programme director Janet Durno and World Health Organization deputy representative Edwin Salvador.
MD Serajul Huq Khan, secretary, health services division of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, presented the keynote paper while Faiz Ahmed, medical education and family welfare secretary at the ministry, and Professor Dr Pran Gopal Datta, former vice chancellor of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University, spoke at the session.
Health inequalities are pervasive in Bangladesh like other developing countries and access to health facilities and services varies significantly among the rural-urban population, between boys and girls or even due to the geographical disparity.
Therefore, chances of having good health are not equally distributed in society- aggravating health inequities and health divide.
The session was aimed at determining the right policy interventions to reduce the health inequality and minimise health divide.
Commendable progress has been made in attaining improvements in key Health Nutrition and Population (HNP) Sector Programme outcomes including reducing malnutrition, underweight and stunting, said Mr Khan in his keynote.
But improving overall nutritional situation and facility readiness and utilising full capacity of the existing and upgraded public facilities at all levels and service quality, standardisation and accreditation for quality of care are among the challenges, he added.
He suggested that the support from development partners be used in implementing, managing and monitoring multifarious challenges posed by the ambitious health goals in the context of the country's dynamic development process.
Lauding the progresses, Ms Durno stressed for continuation of the advancement and ensuring quality health services, especially for women.
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