Doctors must treat patients with care, says health minister

Health Minister Sardar Mohammad Sakhawat Hossain has urged doctors and healthcare workers to treat patients with compassion, warning that they will be held accountable for mistreating patients in the afterlife.

He made the remarks as the chief guest at the inauguration of a newly constructed steel structure building at the Children's Hospital in Agargaon, Dhaka, on Monday.

The minister said healthcare professionals needed to develop greater awareness of their responsibilities, noting that the reality of the country's healthcare sector did not always match public claims about its services.

However, he said the overall standard of healthcare had improved compared with any previous period.

Addressing doctors and healthcare workers, Sakhawat said people should remember that treating patients with kindness was a moral and religious responsibility.

He said religious practices alone would not be enough if healthcare professionals failed to show compassion towards patients in need.

On the quality of hospital food, the minister said meals served at many hospitals were of reasonably good quality, although they might not be as delicious as his wife's cooking. He added that he also ate hospital food.

Speaking about health risks among children, he said many infants aged below two months were contracting measles, with some dying from the disease, while others were recovering through treatment.

sks