Health Policy of Bangladesh

Professor Dr. Be-Nazir Ahmed

Professor, Department of Microbiology
National Institute of Preventive and Social Medicine (NIPSOM)
Former Director, Disease Control & Line Director, Communicable
Disease Control
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MHFW), Bangladesh
Introduction
Since the birth of Bangladesh, We have tremendous achievement
in health sector
All health indicators improved and MDG achieved
Our health system is serving well this huge population with limited
resources
All this was possible because of good health policy and system
However, there are still areas of improvement in our health system
Health policy
Health policy refers to decisions, plans, and actions that are undertaken
to achieve specific health care goals within a society or a country

Latest health policy of Bangladesh was published in 2011

The Health Policy (2011) has 15 goals and objectives, 10 policy principles
and 32 strategies
Principles of our Health Policy
Every citizen has the basic right to adequate health care. The State and the
government are constitutionally obliged to ensure health care for its
citizens.
To ensure an effective health care system that responds to the need of a
healthy nation, health policy provides the vision and mission for
development.
Pursuit of such policy will fulfill the demands of the people of the country,
while health service providers will be encouraged and inspired.
Bangladesh expressed agreement on the following declarations:
The Alma Ata Declaration (1978),The World Summit for Children (1990,International Conference on
Population and Development (1994),Beijing Women's Conference (1995)[2]
Goals of our Health Policy- 15 Goals
To make necessary basic medical utilities reach people of all strata
To develop a system to ensure easy and sustained availability of health services
for the people
Third To ensure optimum quality, acceptance and availability of primary health
care, and governmental medical services at the Upazila and Union levels.
To reduce the intensity of malnutrition,
To undertake programs for reducing the rates of child and maternal mortality
within the next 5 years to acceptable levels;
To adopt satisfactory measures for ensuring improved maternal and child
health
Goals of our Health Policy- 15 Goals
To improve overall reproductive health resources and services;
To ensure the presence of full-time doctors, nurses and other
officers/staff, provide and maintain necessary equipment and supplies
To devise ways for the people to make optimum usage of the opportunities
in government hospitals and health service system, and to ensure quality
management and cleanliness of service delivery at the hospitals;
To formulate specific policies for medical colleges and private clinics, and
to introduce appropriate laws and regulations for the control and
management of such institutions including maintenance of service
quality;
Goals of our Health Policy- 15 Goals
To strengthen and expedite the family planning programme with the
objective of attaining the target of Replacement Level of Fertility;
To explore ways to make the family planning programme more acceptable,
easily available and effective
To arrange special health services for mentally retarded, the physically
disabled and for elderly populations;
To determine ways to make family planning and health management more
accountable and cost-effective by equipping it with more skilled manpower.
To introduce systems for treatment of all types of complicated diseases in the
country, and minimise the need for foreign travel for medical treatment.
Sustainable Development Goals
The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are 17 goals
with 169 targets that all 191 UN Member States have agreed to try to
achieve by the year 2030.
Health has a central place in SDG 3: Ensure healthy lives and promoting
well-being for all at all ages, underpinned by 13 targets.
Almost all of the other 16 goals are directly related to health or will
contribute to health indirectly.
Health policy of Bangladesh aims to achieve SDG in time
Universal Health Coverage

The UHC has been defined as

Ensuring that all people can use the promotive, preventive, curative,
rehabilitative and palliative health services they need, of sufficient
quality to be effective, while also ensuring that the use of these
services does not expose the user to financial hardship.

Bangladesh aims to achieve Universal Health Coverage by 2032.

4th Health, Population and Nutrition Sector
Programme
Development plan for next 5 years in Health sector of Bangladesh

Total budget: 1,15,486 crore taka

The 4th HPNSP is built on existing achievement to improve equity, quality

and efficiency with a view to gradually moving towards UHC and
achieving health related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
Our Health system
The health system of Bangladesh is pluralistic: Government, the private
sector, NGOs and donor agencies

The Government or public sector is the first key actor

53 District Hospitals, 425 Upazila Health Complexes, 1469 Union Health and
Family Welfare Centres, and 13861 community clinics at ward level
For tertiary care there are medical colleges and specialized hospitals
Our achievement
Achievement in all quantifiable health indicators
??
Challenges
In terms of service delivery:
Weak management
Limited resources
Low quality services

In terms of taking service:

Less capacity of receiving services
Unhealthy life style
Challenges
Specific challenges:
Maternal and neonatal mortality rate
Child mortality rate
Communicable diseases control
Non communicable disease control
Emmerging diseases
Climate change
Nutrition deficiency
Challenges
Specific challenges:
Quality care
Lack of manpower
Urban health
Lifestyle of people
Lack of health knoweldge
Centralized management
Lack of health research
Conclusion
Remarkable achievement in the MGD proved the inner strength of health
system of Bangladesh that it can do more if support and innovations are
taken as per demand of time.

And we believe, if we all work together,

theres always a brighter sky ahead.
Thank you.