Govt’s success depends on health sector,  says Shakhawat

Health and Family Welfare Minister Sardar Md Shakhawat Hossain has said the government’s success largely depends on the health sector.

“The government is giving the highest priority to the health sector and increasing allocations for hospitals that receive large numbers of patients from different parts of the country,” the minister said.

He made the remarks on Monday while addressing the inauguration of the newly built Respiratory Critical Care and Interventional Pulmonology Centre at the National Institute of Diseases of the Chest and Hospital (NIDCH) in Mohakhali in the capital, as the chief guest.

On expanding kidney dialysis services, the health minister said the government plans to provide 10 dialysis machines to every upazila across the country within the next two years.

At the same time, he said, the government has taken various initiatives to enhance the skills of doctors.

The minister said NIDCH was inaugurated in 2005 by then prime minister Khaleda Zia, but ICU services at the hospital were expanded 21 years later. The newly established ICU has added 40 beds, he added.

NIDCH Director Dr Golam Sarwar Liaquat Hossain Bhuiyan chaired the event. Bangladesh Medical University Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr FM Siddiqui, Directorate General of Health Services Director General Dr Prabhat Chandra Biswas and others were present at the inauguration event.