Published : 14 Nov 2026, 02:34 PM
Updated : 14 Nov 2026, 02:34 PM
The government is recruiting 100,000 health workers, 80 percent of them women, to expand preventive healthcare services across Bangladesh, according to Dr Zubaida Rahman, vice-president of the Ziaur Rahman Foundation.
She announced the initiative on Saturday at an event marking the 12th anniversary of the Institute for Developing Science and Health Initiatives (ideSHi) at a hotel in Dhaka's Gulshan.
Zubaida, wife of Prime Minister Tarique Rahman, said years of neglect had left preventive healthcare underdeveloped, exposing millions of women across Bangladesh's more than 90,000 villages to avoidable diseases.
"The government has placed special emphasis on disease prevention," she said, adding that the new health workers would help bring preventive services to people's doorsteps.
She praised ideSHi and its founder, Dr Firdausi Qadri, for their contributions to health research over the past 12 years.
Addressing young scientists, Zubaida urged them to take pride in work that was helping people lead healthier lives, despite the slow pace of progress.
Speaking at the same event, SM Ziauddin Hyder, the prime minister's health affairs assistant, outlined five priorities for healthcare reform, including stronger disease prevention, primary healthcare, pharmaceutical and biotechnology innovation, digital health services and research.
He also called for greater opportunities for Bangladeshi scientists to build careers at home.
"We must reverse the brain drain and bring talented people back home," he said.
