Advanced Treatment to Start on Pilot Basis at Five Tertiary Hospitals in Dhaka Under PPP: Health Minister

The government has taken an initiative to introduce advanced medical services under the public-private partnership (PPP) method. In the first phase, the programme will start on a pilot basis at five tertiary-level hospitals in Dhaka, Health Minister Sardar Md Sakhawat Hossain has said.

He made the remarks as chief guest at a programme organised on Thursday (5 November) at around 10:30am at Shaheed Ziaur Rahman Medical College Hospital (SZMC) in Bogura on the occasion of SZMC Day.

The health minister said discussions with five tertiary-level hospitals in Dhaka on introducing medical services under the PPP method have been finalised. However, another meeting will be held next week on how much money the private institutions will charge in return for the services. The programme will start once the matter is finalised at that meeting, he said.

He said the programme will first be launched on a pilot basis at the five hospitals in Dhaka. Afterwards it will be spread to other cities as much as possible. Prime Minister Tarique Rahman is interested in the matter and work is under way to implement that plan, he said.

Describing Bogura as one of the main centres of treatment for people from various districts of the northern region, the health minister said increasing opportunities for advanced treatment of complex diseases including cancer and liver disease there is under consideration. The hospital's problems have been asked to be submitted in writing and will be solved in phases, he said.

On the absence of a separate ICU for children at SZMC and the shortage of doctors, he said plans have been taken to set up about 20 new ICUs in the country. Bogura is among them, he said.

The minister also said that among 500 newly joined doctors, 17 have been posted at various levels in Bogura. More doctors will be given, he said.

He added that the process of appointing 5,000 doctors is under way. Applications against the recruitment notice have closed and interviews are currently being conducted through the PSC, he said.

On hospital waste management, the health minister said medical waste management systems are being built at large hospitals. The programme already exists at 15 places. Hospitals without the system, including Bogura, are also being brought under the plan, he said.

On the current state of the health sector, the minister said corruption and mismanagement over the past 17 years have caused the sector to deteriorate. The present government, under the leadership of Prime Minister Tarique Rahman, is trying to bring the sector back on the right track, he said.

He added that the prime minister is giving special importance to medical waste management. A meeting was also held on the matter yesterday, he said.

According to the health minister's remarks, the final decision on the PPP programme at the five Dhaka hospitals depends on finalising, at next week's meeting, how much the private institutions will charge.