Mega health projects
We welcome the government move to more than double the investment for the health sector programme over the next five years with infusion of Tk 1,15,486 crore being earmarked for diseases like cancer, heart ailments, diabetes and to improve overall health governance. This comes in the background of having spent very paltry sums in the past so many years. For instance, the government spent Tk 37,384 crore only from 2003 to 2011 in this sector. However, success of a programme does not depend merely on the volume of money injected into it. It is very much a matter of how well the money is spent.
We understand that 84 percent of this mammoth expenditure is to be sourced domestically. What concerns us is that with such a huge rise in expenditure, there come a slew of unnecessary projects. It is hence imperative that projects are chosen carefully without extraneous considerations. Another point that we would like to make is that when projects are financed, even partially, by multilateral agencies, there are stringent conditions attached to funding. Those terms and conditions are there for multifarious reasons including transparency and also to act as a guard against graft and misuse. Now that we will be financing the bulk of this expenditure from our own sources, putting into place such safeguards must be prioritised before disbursement of funds for any project.
Last but not the least, let health projects be chosen judiciously so as to be of use to the public. The implementation and utilisation of the funds need to show better performance than our infrastructure projects because delays mean cost overruns, something a poor country like ours does not need.
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