Health In Bangladesh.doc

Lecture 18 (L 18) Theme:

Development Interventions: Successes in Health and Education Health Sector in Bangladesh . Bangladesh has a health system which is dominated by the public sector and the private sector is run by local entrepreneurs, different NGOs and international organizations. In public sector, The Ministry of Health and family Welfare is the leading organization for policy formulating, planning and decision making at macro and micro level. Under the ministry four Directorates e.g. Director General of Health Services, Director General of Family Planning , Directorate of Nursing Services and Directorate of Drug Administration are providing health services to the citizens. Since independence Bangladesh has made significant progress in health outcomes and the government has been pursuing a policy of health development that ensures provision of basic services to the entire population, particularly to the under-served population in rural areas. Within the overall development policy framework of the Government of Bangladesh, the goal of the ‘Health, Nutrition and Population’ (HNP) sector is to achieve sustainable improvement in health, nutrition and reproductive health, including family planning status of the people, particularly of vulnerable groups, including women, children, the elderly, and the poor with the ultimate aim of their economic emancipation and physical, social, mental and spiritual well being. Three sub-sectoral policies, i.e., National Health Policy, National Food and Nutrition Policy, and National Population Policy duly approved by the government from time to time are under implementation by the MOHFW. Non Government Organizations (NGOs) are significant and growing sources of HNP services in both rural and urban Bangladesh. Their services have mainly been in the areas of family planning and MCH. More recently, NGOs have extended their range of services and are now the major providers of urban primary care. One of the successful policies in health sector reformation in Bangladesh is Drug policy which was promulgated in 1982 aimed to remove medicine considered harmful, useless

and unnecessary from the market and ensures the supply of essential drugs of all levels of health care delivery, at affordable price. Bangladesh had shown commendable development in the pharmaceutical sector following successful implementation of the National Drug Policy 1982. The policy provides additional legislative powers to control this sector and to bring about appropriate legal coverage. To achieve the Millennium development Goals ( MDGs) - improvements in some health indicators have been remarkable, especially in reducing fertility, reducing under 5 mortality, providing vaccines to children and mothers, reducing vitamin A deficiency, and others. In other areas the country is lagging behind and more must be done and coordinated effort will be needed to ensure that the promise of the MDGs is realized.

Important Links # Health Policy in Bangladesh

# National Drug Policy # Population Policy of Bangladesh # Directorate General of Family Planning

# Directorate of Drug Administration # The Drugs (Control) Ordinance, 1982 # National Institute of Population Research and Training (NIPORT)

# Family and Community Health

# Ministry of Health and Family Welfare # World Health Organization, Bangladesh National Web Portal of Bangladesh, www.bangladesh.gov.bd

Reference: http://www.bangladesh.gov.bd/index.php? option=com_content&task=category§ionid=4&id=67&Itemid=27

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