CPD-Prothom Alo-The Daily Star dialogue in Rajshahi

Call for community-based health policy
Regional consultation meeting at Rajshahi

Staff Correspondent
18 May 2003

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The health and population policy should be formulated by developing a community-based system and ensuring involvement of the people the stakeholders. The entire health sector remains in complete disarray in absence of people's participation in the health policy.

To improve the medicare service at grassroots level, the typical attitude of doctors towards patients should be changed if the government's commitment for better health for all is to be lived up to. These recommendations were made at the first session of the regional consultation of the National Policy Review Forum 2003 on 'Health and Population Policy' held at Parjatan Motel auditorium here yesterday.

Mizanur Rahman Minu, MP (member of parliament), the mayor of Rajshahi City Corporation (RCC), attended as chief guest the first session of the meet organised jointly by the Center for Policy Dialogue (CPD), The Daily Star and the Prothom Alo.

Dr Debapriya Bhattacharya, executive director of the CPD, delivered the welcome address and Dr Nawshad Fayez, research advisor of Population Research and Development Associate, read out a draft taskforce report on the health and population policy in the discussion chaired by Dr Rejvi Sultan, the chief health officer of the RCC.

Dr Debapriya said CPD has taken an initiative to seek recommendations from experts across the country on different development policies prior to the next general elections and formulate policy briefs to help the elected government for smooth and better implementation of projects. "The government should give importance to the recommendations of local experts and the political leaders should work sincerely to keep their pre-election pledges," RCC Mayor Mizanur Rahman observed.

He also urged for building a corruption-free environment in health department to achieve hundred per cent success in government programmes. Speakers of the dialogue also strongly criticised the government for lacking sincerity in developing health sector and for failing to bring about well-equipped medicare facilities at grassroots level.

Dr Nawshad Fayez meanwhile said the government in many cases could not follow recommendations from local experts because of its prior agreement with different donor agencies. Besides, many good policies fail to attain success due to wrong implementation system that overlooks the necessity of people's participation, he said.

Giving a short picture of the health and population situation, he said that the use of family planning went up since 1993 but there was no change in the total fertility rate. The child death rate is 80 out of thousand children, 430 mothers die in one lakh, two-third of mothers can not avail neo-natal services, only six per cent children take birth in hospitals and clinics, 50 per cent children suffer from malnutrition and only 18 doctors and five nurses are there for one lakh people, he revealed.

Sayed Alamgir Faruk, a CPD fellow and former health secretary, observed that autonomy and decentralisation of health centres at upazila and union level, NGO involvement in government programmes and proper supervision have become essential for developing the health sector.

Zamat Khan, president of the Rajshahi Protection Parishad, said that the health system in Rajshahi has fallen apart with the mushroom growth of unauthorised clinics. Dr Dayem Uddin, assistant professor of Department of Radiology at Rajshahi Medical College, said that the government allocation for medicine per person is Tk 0.25 to Tk 0.33 when a simple paracetamol costs Tk 0.50. "There should be a watchdog to ensure a desired health system," remarked Golam Sabbir Sattar Tapu, a teacher of Rajshahi University.