DGHS favours unification of all directorates

The director general of Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) has called for unification of all the directorates under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare for better services.

“And there should be a Chief of Director Generals (to head the unified body),” Prof Deen Mohammad Noorul Huq said on Saturday speaking at a policy dialogue on the sidelines of an international conference in Dhaka.

He made the observation in view of the lack of coordination among all the directorates under the ministry.

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has separate directorates or administrators for the health, family planning, drugs, nursing, and purchase.

But disconnection between the health and the family planning directorates is known to have affected services, mostly at the rural level.

Government officials hardly talk about integration. But Deen Mohammad Noorul Huq said in a rare call: “I am in favour of integration at all levels.”

He said integration would come only when everyone comes under one system.

“We have bifurcated health system. That’s why it’s very difficult to work,” he said.

Director General for family planning Nur Hussain Talukder was also present.

The policy dialogue styled ‘Maternal and newborn health integration in pursuit of continuum of care in health service delivery system’ brought together gynaecologists and paediatricians to discuss how the two services can be integrated for saving mothers and newborns.

Senior professors including National Professor MR Khan were present at the dialogue where officials of international and local NGOs also spoke.

Bangladesh Perinatal Society and MaMoni Health System Strengthening (MaMoni HSS) project of USAID jointly organised the dialogue.

Dr Ishtiaq Mannan, Chief of Party of MCHIP within Save the Children, said they favoured coordination between paediatrician and obstetricians as most of the deaths and disabilities take place during childbirth.

“That’s why we talk about integration of these two professionals so that mothers and children receive appropriate care during complicacies,” he told bdnews24.com.

“Structurally we have that integration, but that is not functional.”

Director of Primary Health Care, Syed Abu Jafar Md Musa said he found integration within the health system in India.

“We tried a lot, but could not,” he said.

He said human resource management could be a big problem that “we can address by task-shifting”.

“For example, due to shortage of anaesthetists we cannot ensure emergency delivery care in rural facilities. But in Nepal they have trained nurses with anaesthesia techniques and they can manage well,” he said.