Not a taka of health allocations will be allowed to be looted, says State Minister Muhit, with Tk 16,000 crore in tenders in days
State Minister for Health and Family Welfare M A Muhit has said not a single taka allocated for people's medical care in the health sector will be allowed to be lost to corruption. He said the past pattern of mismanagement and corruption in the health sector must be broken.
He made the remarks on Tuesday (27 October) as chief guest at a discussion meeting at the Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation building in Tejgaon, in the capital, organised for World Iodine Day.
The state minister said tenders worth Tk 16,000 crore would be held in the health sector in the next few days. He said the money would be spent on building hospitals and buying medical equipment to protect public health, as well as on preventing food adulteration.
M A Muhit said one of the foundations of the current government's election manifesto for the health sector is giving importance to disease prevention. Alongside arranging treatment after people fall ill, effective steps must be taken so that people do not become ill in the first place, he noted.
Saying that ensuring safe, adulteration-free food is essential, the state minister said food adulteration is raising the risk of kidney and other long-term diseases. Although dialysis machines and specialised hospitals are being set up in various districts, the number of people suffering such diseases will keep rising if food adulteration is not stopped.
He called on the Directorate of National Consumer Rights Protection and other relevant institutions to play a stronger role in preventing food adulteration.
Highlighting the importance of World Iodine Day, the state minister said collective efforts to deliver iodised salt to people's doorsteps have made it largely possible to prevent intellectual disability caused by iodine deficiency. But according to a 2026 survey, about 12 percent of people in the country still use non-iodised salt.
He said one in every eight people still does not receive iodised salt. He stressed identifying those who use non-iodised salt and increasing the use of iodised salt through targeted programmes based on specific research.
The state minister also expressed concern over the nutrition situation of children with disabilities. He called on relevant institutions to pay more attention to bringing malnourished children with disabilities under mainstream nutrition and health programmes and to take coordinated initiatives.
