Development of health sector after independence of Bangladesh
Bangladesh is often cited globally for its success stories in the health sector. One example is family planning through fertility regulation. The first post-independence National Population Census of 1974 found that the total fertility rate (TFR) was 6.9 per women; after a decade, the TFR dropped from 3.3 births per woman in the 1990s to 2.3 in 2011. In 2019 the TFR in Bangladesh was said to be 2.
Bangladesh has developed an Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI) under which child population is vaccinated mainly against tuberculosis, diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, hepatitis, Haemophilus influenza type B, poliomyelitis, pneumonia, and measles. Bangladesh received a UN award in 2010 for reducing the child mortality rate.
Bangladesh also improved in child nutrition during past few decades. Bangladesh has 111 Medical colleges which is praiseworthy development in medical education.
After liberation, our child mortality rate dropped from 221 deaths per 1,000 live-births in 1972 to 38 deaths per 1,000 live births in recent years according to a report by the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR) in 2019. It has also shown impressive improvements in population health status by achieving United Nation's Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 4 by reducing child deaths before the 2015 target.
In the COVID-19 era, with the strong hand of the Govt. of Bangladesh, it has controlled the pandemic better than many other countries in terms of both affected sufferers with low death rates.
According to the World Health Organisation of quality healthcare ranking, Bangladesh ranked 88th, which is better than any of the SAARC countries.
But the healthcare system in the country still lacks availability, equality, and reliability, which should be brought to light and taken into accounts. The immediate need, however, is to improve the quality of healthcare in Bangladesh for all classes of citizens.
Because of low income and social stigma associated with visiting a doctor, poor and rural people are deprived of health care. Richer and urban people can reach health care services earlier and quicker because of better socioeconomic conditions. To overcome these discrepancies, we are badly in need of health insurance for all citizens of the country.
The Government of Bangladesh has a plan to introduce a public health card system along with a coalition with NGOs working in rural areas and vulnerable groups that would be inclusive of marginalised groups, enabling them to access community healthcare services.
The author recently received Mahatma Gandhi International Peace Award 2023 for special contribution to the Great War of Liberation and medical services.
Comments