ECNEC has ordered a full review of the proposed Tk13,022.69 crore Health and Nutrition Services Improvement and System Strengthening Project after identifying several components of its cost structure as abnormal and unjustified.
Planning Ministry officials told TIMES of Bangladesh that Monday’s ECNEC meeting withheld approval and decided to direct the relevant division to reassess the expenditure and submit a revised proposal.
They said ECNEC found inconsistencies across multiple segments of the cost breakdown and halted the proposal until clearer justification is provided.
The national project, to be implemented by the Directorate General of Health Services, was estimated at Tk13,022.69 crore, with Tk6,826.49 crore from government funds and Tk6,196.21 crore in projected foreign loans and grants.
The four-year programme was scheduled to run across all divisions from July 2025 to June 2029.
Its objective was to enhance the quality and availability of health and nutrition services nationwide with stronger programmes for maternal, newborn and child health, vaccination, nutrition and prevention of non-communicable diseases.
The proposal included plans to develop human resources in primary healthcare, reinforce medicine supply chains for non-communicable diseases, introduce an effective referral system at the upazila level and improve grievance redress mechanisms.
Another key focus was improving the resilience of upazila-level health facilities to address climate-related health risks.
The project listed activities such as expanding maternal healthcare, ensuring equitable vaccination coverage, strengthening nutrition services at field level, increasing detection and registration of non-communicable diseases, ensuring uninterrupted medicine supply and improving emergency response capacity during public health crises.
The background of the proposal said the government had moved from the Fifth Health, Population and Nutrition Sector Programme to project-based development in the health sector, and the Development Project Proposal was designed to manage the risks of this shift and sustain ongoing activities with support from development partners.
On 29 May, the Socio-Economic Infrastructure Division of the Planning Commission recommended the project for ECNEC approval at a Project Evaluation Committee meeting.
ECNEC concluded that several components of the expenditure lacked clarity and rationality, and the Planning Ministry said the project will be reconsidered once the implementing agencies revise the costs and resubmit the proposal.
