That the healthcare system in the country has gone haywire for long many years is known to all quarters. The health sector became, as though, a perpetual haven of rampant corruption, endless anomalies and irregularities without any remedies in sight. The sector virtually became an utter mess and it needs a radical overhaul.
Now it sounds good that the health ministry has seen the gravity of the situation and has identified ten major problems in the healthcare system and has planned measures to address them, aiming to improve the country’s overall healthcare.
The ministry has very recently said, “If healthcare reform is not at the centre of planning, all other reforms will become meaningless.”
On the question of healthcare reform we are in accord with the ministry’s statement. It raises our hope when we hear professor Sayedur Rahman, Special Assistant to the Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus, for the health ministry, saying, “We promise that change is coming and reforms have already begun.”
Our hopes are greatly bolstered as Health Adviser Nurjahan Begum at a press conference in the capital said, “We are taking various initiatives to bring positive changes to the country’s healthcare sector. We hope, the benefits of these efforts will become visible in the coming days.”
The ministry has named the ten major problems it has identified as ‘disease’ which plague the health sector to the core. These are: the absence of merit, knowledge and competence in the system; excessive centralization; overreliance on specialized treatment and neglected primary healthcare; lack of transparency and a culture of impunity; unmotivated and demoralised healthcare provider; absence of critical thinking and proper mindset; erosion of ethics and conflicts of interest; overdependence on external actors; weak leadership and poor management, and severe lack of planning, resource allocation and consistency. In fact, these corroding factors snowballed over the years to ail the healthcare sector. It is learnt that the ministry has planned measures to tackle these issues squarely.
The quota system in medical admission has been repealed and an accreditation council has been set up as a remedial measure. The ministry has proposed an automated posting system, a separate public service commission for the health sector, and either the closure or quality improvement of poor-standard medical colleges. Steps have also been taken to decentralise the power of various directorates. New institutions have also been planned, including a National Institute for women in Khulna, a Geriatric Health Institute in Chattogram, and a health city in Rangpur.
In order to strengthen primary healthcare, ward-based primary healthcare centres will be set up in urban areas, while the existing union-level health and family planning centres will be turned into full-fledged primary healthcare centres. A total of 2,700 doctors will be appointed to provide primary healthcare. Patients referred from these centres will be treated by specialists at upazila and district hospitals. The capacity of the government run Essential Drug Company Ltd. will be expanded to reduce the dependence on external suppliers. These are some of the major proposals made to ensure citizen’s access to affordable treatment and quality medicines, while also allowing a fair and reasonable profit margin.
We think the flagship policy of the government should be the uplift of the healthcare sector in the greater interests of a healthy nation and we hope, the bugbear inimical to the progress of the healthcare system will be eliminated at a quick speed by implementing these proposals. We keep our fingers crossed.
