Health Day 09
State must take responsibility of people's health. Stop
Commercialization and Privatization in Health Sector in the name of ‘User Fees’.
The draft Health Policy 2009 should be finalized focusing on people’s rights,
not for profit motive.
The speakers in the human chain said, the public health care system of Bangladesh lacks in human resource, technology, materials and infrastructure. More than seven thousand posts of doctors are vacant; there are lack of beds and medicine in hospitals. The market lobby is trying to privatize public health care system making it dysfunctional.
The speakers also criticized the recently declared user fee in upazila and district hospitals and demanded immediate cancellation of it. Speakers also criticized the malpractices, corruption in public health care system and demanded immediate steps from government to eliminate these.
SUPRO placed the following demands on the occasion of World Health Day:
- State must take the responsibility of people's health. Stop privatization and commercialization of health sector.
- Take necessary measures to increase the number of bed in the hospital from 51 to 100 at upazila level and doubling the number of doctors than existing level.
- Ensure the presence of appointed doctors at upazila health complex. Ensure adequate medicine and balanced diet for patients.
- Increase the budget allocation to re-open community clinics and these clinics must be management by government.
- Government must be pro-active in quality control and pricing of medicine for marginalized people