Policymakers must decide whether access to healthcare services is a right of the people or it is a commodity that they have to buy, said experts at a roundtable discussion yesterday.
Slamming the high cost of medical treatment in the country, they said political parties need to step forward to stop the wholesale commercialisation of the healthcare sector.
The discussion titled, “Health Sector Governance: Policy, Influence, Ownership”, was organised by Institute of Governance Studies (IGS) of Brac University at Brac Centre Inn in the capital.
Dr Mustaq Hossain, general secretary of Bangladesh Chikitsak Sangsad, said no political party took steps against the commodification of healthcare services.
Addressing the event, Prof Rashid E Mahbub, president of Bangladesh Health Rights Movement (BHRM), said neither the general public nor the political leaders are well-informed about the health policy.
“It is the civil society of the country that is knowledgeable about the policy. And the people of the society can afford healthcare costs, but neither political parties and general people have no adequate knowledge about the policy,” he said.
Dr Zafrullah Chowdhury, founder of Gonoshasthaya Kendra, said the child mortality rate in the country can not be reduced if presence of doctors at every union is not ensured.
Dr Abul Kalam Azad, additional director general of the Directorate General of Health Services, and other stakeholders of the health sector, among others, were present at the discussion.