100,000 health workers to be recruited, 80pc of women: Dr Zubaida

Dr Zubaida, vice-chairperson of the Ziaur Rahman Foundation and wife of Prime Minister Tarique Rahman, has said that The government is recruiting 100,000 health workers, 80 per cent of whom will be women, as part of its renewed focus on disease prevention.

The initiative aims to take preventive healthcare services and awareness programmes directly to people's doorsteps.

Dr Zubaida made the remarks at an event marking the 12th anniversary of the Institute for Developing Science and Health Initiatives (ideSHi), a research organisation, at a hotel in Gulshan, Dhaka.

She said years of neglect in the healthcare sector had resulted in insufficient emphasis on disease prevention. Consequently, millions of women across more than 90,000 villages in Bangladesh were suffering from diseases that could have been prevented through timely intervention.

Taking preventive healthcare knowledge to communities requires research, testing and public trust, Dr Zubaida said, adding that ideSHi had been working towards that goal over the past 12 years.

She also congratulated ideSHi founder and chief Dr Firdausi Qadri, along with the organisation's scientists and staff, for their contributions.