‘Health allocation not enough’

Health minister Mohammed Nasim has expressed his unhappiness over the health sector allocation in the proposed budget of 2014-2015.

“Only Tk 110 billion, which had been Tk 90 billion in the previous year, has been allocated for the health sector. I’m not happy with this,” he told journalists at a press meet on Bangladesh’s participation in the World Health Organization’s (WHO) 67th summit.

“We need more allocation to improve our hospitals. It has not been raised that much,” he said.

Nasim claimed Bangladesh was the only country providing the cheapest medical care. Rich countries charge a lot more, he said.

Nasim said, “Bangladeshi health clinics provide almost free medical care to citizens; government hospitals, too, give free medical care, except in case of incurable diseases.”

On the ‘Free Health Card’ programme, the minister said the government had already begun distributing such cards among the needy in three places in Tangail to give free medical care as part of a pilot project. Other places would come under the project in course of time, he added.

He said Bangladesh’s biggest achievement at the recent WHO summit (May 19-May 24) was the unequivocal support extended to the country’s proposed resolution on “Comprehensive and Co-ordination Effort for The Management of Autism Spectrum Disorder”.

“All the member countries agreed to pass the resolution,” the minister said.

This resolution will help Least Developed Countries (LDCs) get technical and financial assistance in preventing and dealing with autism.
In addition, the World Bank would have to implement autism-related public health programmes in keeping with the terms of the resolution, he said.

Nasim described the proposal as a big diplomatic success story, achieved through health diplomacy.

He said, “The government will receive a fresh grant of $150 million from Global Fund to eradicate HIV, TB and malaria.”

He said Global Fund had pledged the sum in a bilateral meeting, adding that it was another achievement of his Geneva visit.

Health secretary M M Niazuddin and other high officials were present in the press-meet.