State Minister for Health and Family Welfare MA Muhit on Saturday said an e-health card scheme will soon be introduced on a pilot basis.
He made the announcement during a dialogue titled “Bangladesh Towards Universal Health,” organised by the Power and Participation Research Centre (PPRC) at the CIRDAP Auditorium in the capital on Saturday afternoon.
Muhit stated that work on the e-health cards has already commenced, and the framework for its implementation is currently being developed.
To further universalise the primary healthcare system, the government is planning to recruit 100,000 health workers, including 80,000 female health workers.
During the roundtable discussion, the state minister highlighted significant administrative challenges, noting that biometric data from a single day showed nearly half of health workers were absent from their duty stations.
He observed that this trend of absenteeism is consistent both within Dhaka and in regions outside the capital.
Addressing the issue of corruption within the health sector, Muhit emphasised the necessity of strategic planning and action, remarking that many past achievements have been lost to corruption.
He warned that without proper supervision, all development plans risk becoming “mega-corruption sectors.” To combat this, he stressed the need for “pipelining” to ensure all operations are conducted with transparency.
The state minister also pledged to eliminate all forms of corruption in the health sector procurement process.
He further acknowledged the suffering of patients due to the influence of brokers (dalals) in hospitals and noted that doctors are often not regularly present at their workplaces to ensure service delivery.
Muhit concluded by affirming that the government is actively working to address these critical issues.
