The state minister disclosed it while talking to reporters at a press briefing in his office at the Secretariat.

State Minister for Health and Family Welfare Zahid Malek on Thursday said the government has taken an initiative to introduce a “health protection law” aiming to strengthen the monitoring system of the health services at private hospitals across the country.

“The government is trying to control the medical costs and monitor the health services of the private hospitals. Already a wing has been opened at the ministry to monitor the health services at private hospitals,” said Zahid.

The state minister disclosed it while talking to reporters at a press briefing in his office at the Secretariat, organized for the preparation of “World Health Day” to be observed on Saturday across the globe.

“The health protection law will be sent to the Cabinet for approval after the completion of its vetting this month,” he said.

Replying to a question about people’s interest in going to India for better treatment, the minister said, “The medical services at the government hospitals in Bangladesh are good. But treatment in three categories including heart, kidney and cancer is better in India. We are working to boost the medical treatment in these sectors.”

Besides, the government has taken a pilot project, dubbed as Universal Health Coverage, to bring people under health insurance, he said.

During the tenure of the current government, many new buildings were constructed in different medical colleges and 13,000 physicians, 15,000 nurses and 16,000 employees have already been appointed while the process for recruiting 10,000 more physicians, 5,000 nurses and 40,000 employees is underway.

According to World Health Organization, the mortality rate of Bangladesh is 71.8 percent while it was 65.5 percent in 2000.

The mother mortality death per one lakh is 176 while it was 399 in 2000 while infant mortality rate per 1000 is 42.6 in 2000 while the rate drops by 23.3 in 2015.


_{Source: dhakatribune.com}