PM Hasina says she will now take medical treatment only in Bangladesh

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina says from now on, she will take treatment only in Bangladesh.

Senior Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 5 Feb 2016, 04:07 PM
Updated : 6 Feb 2016, 12:06 PM

She made the remarks after a health check-up at Gazipur’s Sheikh Fazilatunnesa Mujib Memorial KPJ Specialized Hospital on Friday.

She was happy with the services provided at the hospital. ”Please do not take me abroad if I fall sick. Don’t take me to an air-ambulance.

“I’ll take treatment in the country, in this hospital,” she added.

A number of Bangladeshis travel to India, Singapore, Thailand, and other countries for treatment every year where they spend a huge amount of foreign currency.

Media puts the number at no fewer than 15,000 a month.

An organisation, Citizen Rights Movement, formed a human-chain in Dhaka in December last year raising questions over the travels of the president and the prime minister for treatment abroad.

Prime Minister Hasina left the Ganabhaban for the hospital at Gazipur’s Kashimpur in the morning.

She herself bought a ticket and paid the fee for the check-up.

While speaking to the officials and doctors, she said, “I wanted to come earlier with my sister Sheikh Rehana.”

She said they had thought about establishing a medical college there.

The hospital, established in 2013, is a joint initiative of Malaysian firm KPJ and the Bangabandhu Memorial Trust.

It has been named after the Bangabandhu’s wife, Hasina’s mother Sheikh Fazilatunnesa Mujib.

Hasina asked the doctors to reduce the consultancy fee for insolvent patients.

She pledged Tk 100 million more for the hospital from the Trust.

“As it is named after our mother, all members of our family will donate to it. Please let us know if there is any problem,” she said.

“The fund will be utilised to provide free treatment to the poor and to freedom fighters,” she said.

The hospital is already treating 30 percent patients free of cost, she stated.