Int'l Diagnostic Medical Equipment Expo kicks off

The three-day Dhaka International Diagnostic Medical Equipment Expo-2025 kicked off on Thursday in the city with the aim of promoting advanced health technology and attracting local and foreign investment in the health sector.

Eco Expo jointly with the Bangladesh Private Hospital, Clinic, Diagnostic Owners Association (BPHCDOA) organised the fair at the Bangladesh China Friendship Conference Centre in the city.

Dr Md Sayedur Rahman, special assistant to the chief adviser on health and family welfare, inaugurated the expo.

He focused on the importance of strong regulatory frameworks and private sector engagement for ensuring quality healthcare in Bangladesh.

"Health and treatment are two different sectors," he said. "While the private sector is ahead in providing treatment, there is still a long way to go in ensuring public health standards."

Dr Rahman emphasised the need for strict regulation and accreditation for the health sector.

Responding to an urgency of the medical equipment importer and traders, he said there is a need for categorisation of licenses based on location and hospital infrastructure.

He said there should be a unified law for medical colleges-public or private.

And the supervision of an accreditation council is necessary for both of them, he said.

He called for private hospitals to provide free treatment under corporate social responsibility initiatives and stressed better emergency and ambulance services, saying, "Private hospitals must step up their role in emergency healthcare."

Addressing the environmental challenges, Dr Rahman said that poor liquid waste management in healthcare facilities has caused disasters, urging all stakeholders to act on moral grounds to improve the situation.

Dr A M Shamim, managing director of LabAid, chaired the inaugural session.

He raised concerns over unregulated practices and called for an Indian-style accreditation system.

"There are cases where labs are giving reports without proper facilities," he said. "Blood is an organ-you can't just send it abroad without proper controls."

Dr Shamim also said the private sector have invested minimum $20 billion already in the sector.

He also advocated for the inclusion of private sector voices in health review committees.

Dr Moinul Ahsan, secretary general of BPHCDOA, demanded that the license renewal period be extended from one year to two.

"We go from civil surgeon to divisional office to DG health. It needs to be easier," he said.

"When a seriously ill patient arrives, treat them with humanity, not just as a source of income. Help those who come for help-remember, we take nothing with us in the afterlife," he also said.

Dr Khandaker Rahat Hossain, treasurer of BPHCDOA, presented a paper on blended finance and underscored the need for both public and private sectors to work together to achieve the SDGs, describing it as "the two rails of a railway track."

The speakers urged the health ministry to form a dedicated magisterial cell to investigate private hospitals through mobile courts, and to activate a referral system so that critical patients can receive timely treatment.

Dr Gazi Mizanur Rahman, vice president of BPHCDOA and founder of Gazi Medical Hospital, said, "People have stopped going to India for treatment-this is a huge opportunity for us if we ensure patient-friendly services."

He demanded decentralisation of license renewals, especially for environmental and narcotics licenses, which small clinics struggle to obtain due to bureaucratic centralisation.

FBCCI Convener Md Zakir Hossain Nayon said district-level labs now have sufficient logistics, and the pathology market is expanding rapidly.

He said only 7.0 per cent of health technology and equipment used in Bangladesh is produced locally, while 93 per cent is imported.

Rezaur Rahman, CEO of the Eco Expo, said the country must boost local production.

It's estimated that between 2025-2027, every Bangladeshi will spend around $60 on health, of which $20-25 may go toward equipment.

Some 350 radiation machines are required to serve 1.5 million cancer patients; the country currently has only 26. Private hospitals handle 75 per cent of total healthcare services.

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