Govt to crate community clinic fund to prevent closure of such medical units in future

The government is creating a community clinic fund at national level to prevent shutting down of the health facilities at grassroots even after a regime change in future.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s government started setting up such clinics in 1996 to ensure the general people get primary health services.

Between 1996-01, Hasina’s government targeted setting up 18,000 community clinics but managed to build only 10,723.

But they were closed down by the succeeding BNP-Jamaat-e-Islami coalition government in 2001.

“To ensure health services, we’ll establish a trust fund so that every community clinic will have its own account,” she said on Saturday.

“This is to make sure the clinics cannot be closed down when the government changes in future.”

In 2009, the Awami League-led coalition government reopened the shut down clinics. So far, 13,500 clinics have been set up and 12,906 of them are in operation.

The clinics, each with an annual Tk 110,000 budget for medicines, provide 30 types of essential medicines for free.

Locals have so far donated about 800 acres of land for setting up the clinics. Altogether 13,784 healthcare providers are employed at the clinics.

Prime Minister Hasina said the government would allocate money for the trust fund.

She said affluent people who come for treatment at the clinics and those institutions who want to donate can contribute money to the fund.

“We want these clinics to be run by the locals,” she said at a programme organised to distribute best community clinic awards and to inaugurate e-learning for community healthcare providers.

“Eighty percent of those who received health services at these clinics are women and children,” the prime minister informed.

She asked the people to prevent the sale of medicines meant for the community clinics in the open market.

Hasina also called on the drug manufacturers to follow in the footsteps of others who donated medicines to the clinics.

The clinics are primary health facilities, the prime minister explained. “All sorts of treatment cannot be done here as it is a referral unit.”

She assured of setting up medical colleges in every division to ensure health services.

Seven clinics from seven districts received best community clinic award.

Hasina congratulated the awardees.

“I got the community clinic concept from the father of the nation,” she said.

“These will be run by the locals and government will provide them some facilities like building and medicine.”