Call for emergency services to disaster-hit people

Bangladesh celebrates the World Health Day today with the slogan 'Save lives: Make hospitals safe in emergencies' along with the other United Nations member countries.
President Zillur Rahman and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in separate statements wished successes of the week-long programmes taken by the government.
Expressing hope that the government, non-government and international organisations would take necessary steps to provide emergency services to the people of disaster-prone areas, the president termed the slogan of the World Health Day this year time worthy.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said, “Natural calamity hinders our social and economic development in many ways and brings distress to the people. But it is very much possible to reduce unwanted death and loss by taking timely steps, though we cannot control disaster completely.”
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in his statement said collaboration between different United Nations entities and other international actors is crucial for countries to prepare their health systems for emergencies.
“We must protect public health by designing and building health care facilities that are safe from natural disasters. We must also ensure they are not targeted during conflicts,” he said, adding that health care workers must be trained to work safely in emergencies so that they can save lives, rather than becoming victims themselves.
The week-long programmes will cover all the health facilities of the country highlighting the day. The government will scrutinise the scope for providing utmost services to the patients using the existing resources, said Health Minister Prof AFM Ruhul Haque.
Replying to queries of newspersons at a press briefing at the ministry, he further said that bureaucratic bottleneck holds back the recruitment of doctors, while the Nursing Act 1997 needs to be amended for removing the barrier of recruitment of the nurses to ensure better health services for the people.
“To implement digital health, the government has already started working to provide wireless internet connection to 800 points of the public health facilities. Concurrently, a cellphone in 418 upazila health projects each and a web camera to every civil surgeon will be provided soon,” he said.
The minister said running the community clinics effectively is a priority in health sector and by this time some 5,000 community clinics has started functioning.
World Health Organisation (WHO) Regional Director for South East Asia Dr Samlee Pilanbangchang said health facilities need to be structurally strong to ensure that buildings do not collapse during earthquakes or cyclones.
At the same time, a safe and functional health facility needs contingency plans and a well-trained health workforce ready to deal with emergencies, he added.
United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA) also joins the WHO in drawing attention to the safety of health facilities and the readiness of health workers to treat people in emergencies in the World Health Day.
Together with partners, UNFPA responds to emergencies by sending health equipment to ensure clean and safe childbirth and support medical interventions where necessary.