Health minister under ‘political pressure’ to allow shoddy private medical colleges

An apparently frustrated Health Minister Mohammed Nasim has said that he finds himself under “political pressure” to allow the operation of private medical colleges without any conditions being fulfilled as a prerequisite to their being set up.

“There are many private medical colleges which have no adequate teachers, or laboratory facilities. But when we take steps against them, we find ourselves under pressure from different quarters,” he said on Sunday at a meeting with health reporters in Dhaka.

The Bangladesh Health Reporters’ Forum (BHRF) organised the meet the press on the proposed 2016-2017 budget for the health sector with the Bangladesh Medical Association (BMA).

Chaired by BHRF President Toufiq Maruf, BMA President Prof Mahmud Hassan and Secretary General Prof M Iqbal Arslan were also present.

The health minister on June 12 ordered the suspension of Rangpur’s Northern Medical College, Gazipur’s City Medical College and Nightingale Medical College at Ashulia. But four days later he revoked the order following students’ protests.

Nasim said following the suspension he had come under “pressure” from different quarters.

“I revoked the order considering the future of those students, but barred those medical colleges from taking in new students.”

He said he had decided to inspect all the 68 private medical colleges in Bangladesh.

The minister revealed that he had also decided to have a joint review of all the separate reports of the health ministry, relevant universities, and BMDC before new private medical colleges are allowed from now on or the licences of the existing ones are renewed, and their seats increased.