Since the inception of the World Health Day, World Health Organization (WHO) has been launching awareness campaign on health-related problems and urging for ensuring proper health care across the world. On the occasion of the World Health Day on April 7, different programmes are held at educational and medical institutions and other forums to highlight the significance of the day. The day reminds us of our duties to be careful to our health along with raising awareness on health issues.
The World Health Day is being observed since 1950, though it was decided to celebrate it on April 7, 1948, marking the first health conference of WHO.
The day provides us an opportunity to focus on important public health issues. Our political, social and commercial decisions have influenced climate and health crisis. Extreme weather condition, depletion of land and scarcity of water has displaced people from their habitats and influenced their health. Over 90 per cent people take breaths amid unhealthy air due to burning of fossil fuel. Diseases like cancer and cardiovascular are spreading due to emission of greenhouse gas worldwide. Mosquitoes are spreading more diseases quickly than in the past. According to an estimate of WHO, over 13 million people die of problems caused by environmental pollution every year around the world.
Now time has come to take necessary steps for the welfare of our present and future generations for building a sustainable society without violating environmental rules. The main objective of health economics is to ensure required health care for people with tolerable expenditure from service seekers.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has drawn the attention of people around the globe for taking urgent steps for keeping our dear earth and people healthy. Hence, WHO is trying to make movement aimed at building a healthy society. Therefore, the theme for the day this year has been selected as ‘Our Planet, Our Health’.
About 15 per cent of our country’s people suffered financially and 64 lakh people are becoming poorer every year for bearing high medical expenditure as the cost of medical treatment is very high in the country. According to a report titled ‘Building Awareness of Universal Health Coverage: Advancing the Agenda Forward, 2019, per head personal health-related expenditure is 69.3 per cent in Bangladesh, which is the highest in the South Asian region.
According to that information, inadequate spending, lack of control in government spending, less allocation in budget, not distributing properly in line with allocation, additional pocket money, huge gap between government and pocket money, control-less private health sector, lack of interest in health insurance, reduction of funding by donor agencies and inadequate participation of private organizations are among the challenges in the country’s health sector. According to research findings, about 60 per cent people get health related services from uncontrolled sector. About 14% services come from the government sector, while 26 per cent from the private sector.
Economically, most of our people are from lower and lower-middle class background. It is very tough for many of them to take treatment for complex diseases by spending huge amount of money. But a man can easily avail medicare facilities for complex diseases in traditional system of treatment known as ‘Ayurveda-Yunani’ at a cost less than the allopathic system of treatment. Being natural, there is no negative side-effect of treatment in this system. Ayurved and Naturapathy Association of Bangladesh (AYUNS) has been making relentless efforts in the last one decade for improving the traditional system of treatment.
AYUNS thinks that we can achieve substantial progress in our health sector if we can develop the natural sector. Hence, AYUNS attaches importance on carrying out research on large scale basis on the sector. At the moment, there is less research on the sector in our country. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina herself stressed on carrying out research on medical science.
While addressing a programme at Osmany Memorial Auditorium in the capital, the Prime Minister being virtually connected from her Ganobhaban office recently stressed on carrying out more such research in the country, it can take our country ahead. Mentioning that there has been less research in medical sector, she called for taking special steps for increasing research in the medical science sector.
Recently, a group of Bangladeshi scientists following research managed to unearth the reason of the situation in which a person is affected by diabetes.
Dr. Madhu S Mallo, visiting professor of BIRDEM and former Assistant Professor of Harvard Medical School, USA, headed the research team. While publishing the research finding at a press conference at BIRDEM in Dhaka, the team hoped that their finding will help to a large extent to find out measures aimed at checking diabetes and in its treatment.
I think that if all concerned come forward and play their due role on conducting research on medical science, their research findings will help play a significant role in improving the condition of the country’s health sector, including facing complex diseases.
Dr. Samir Kumar Saha is former Executive Director of Public Health Foundation, Bangladesh
