The New Nation - Internet Edition

BSS, Rajshahi

Participants at a tripartite open-dialogue here on Tuesday called for a collective effort of all concerned to ensure healthcare services for all especially the poor and disadvantaged ones.

Getting healthcare service is one of the fundamental rights of all the citizens irrespective of religion, cast, creed, age and sex and there is no compromise in it, said the health-service providers, receivers and mayoral candidates to the forthcoming Rajshahi City Corporation (RCC) election.

Action Aid Bangladesh, Poriprekkhit and Health and Environmental Journalists Forum jointly arranged the dialogue styled "Public health rights: Public leaders commitment" at Nanking Darbar Hall ahead of the RCC election.

Director of Rajshahi Medical College Hospital Brigadier General Khademul Insan Muhammad Iqbal, Deputy Civil Surgeon Dr Johurul Islam, Deputy Director of Family Planning Mazedul Islam and Chief Health Officer of Rajshahi University Medical Centre Dr Wazed Hossain Beg addressed the meeting as health-service Providers. It was moderated by Action Aid Theme Leader Sarder Arif Uddin.

Mayoral contenders AHM Khairuzzaman Liton, Rejaunnabi Dudu, Mosaddeque Hossain, Advocate Raihanur Rahman, Masudul Haque Dulu, and Durul Huda spoke on the occasion as public leaders. They underscored the need for enhancing budgetary allocation for poverty alleviation to ensure healthcare services for the poor and marginal people.

"Healthcare services could not be ensured for the distressed people without making themselves free from the vicious cycle of poverty. Apart from increasing the budgetary allocation, state control to the health sector should be intensified to bring transparency and accountability in the public level health service providing institutions", they observed. Referring to various mismanagement and irregularities in the health sector, they urged upon the government to form a long-term healthcare regulatory commission to keep the private level health sector within the reach of the poor people.

On the other hand, some service-receivers from different areas of the district narrated their sufferings during taking the service at different public hospitals.

They underscored the need for taking an effective step to make the government hospitals and clinics pro-poor and low-income groups and said, the existing hospitals should be made functional for the sake of ensuring better health services to the rural people especially the poor and destitute.

"Proper functional hospitals could be the means of best uses of the infrastructures and other facilities and resources of those along with providing emergency and primary healthcare services to the general people", discussants said.

They said, importance should be given on making the jobs of the service providers especially the physicians, surgeons and technicians accountable and transparent so the receivers could get regular services from them smoothly.