District and upazila level doctors and health officials from across the country attended a discussion Wednesday where they spoke about the mismanagement in the health sector in presence of Health Minister AFM Ruhal Haque.
Transparency International, Bangladesh (TIB) organised the daylong meet, titled, “The challenge of good governance in the health sector and the path to salvation.” In the daylong meeting session doctors working in public hospitals brought up different management issues.
They pointed out that hospitals in districts and upazilas are insufficient for the number of patients. There is a severe shortage of manpower, many machineries are damaged and there is no allocation for generator fuel.
The third and fourth class employees have no incentive to work as they have no transfer system, there is a shortage of medicine and weakness of monitoring systems in rural areas, mismanagement in the internal audit system, uncontrolled access of medical representatives in hospitals, no recognition for good work and no punishment for corruption, they said.
Health Minister AFM Ruhal Haque in his speech blamed many of the problems on the doctors themselves.
“Doctors do not provide the patients with medicine although there are huge amounts in store. They don’t talk with patients for two minutes but they talk with medical representatives for hours. They do not inform the authorities about damaged machinery,” he said.
“When they are transferred they lobby through their relatives - ministers, secretaries or senor army officers. I suggest that the civil surgeons and upazila health officers be more responsible and transparent in their own duties,” he said.
“Although there is a shortage of manpower in health sector but Bangladesh is a model country around the world for its success in reducing maternal and child death, and initiatives like community clinic,” the minister added.
“For improving the system of medical care before the election we will employ 6,000 more doctors,” Haque said.
Khandakar Shifayetullah, director general of the Directorate General of Health Services and Brig Gen Sayedur Rahman, director of Rajshahi Medical College and Hospital, also attended the event.
Shifayetullah said, “Doctors should serve their patients instead of their personal interests and if they change their mentality then all of the problems will be solved. Machinery or shortage of manpower is not the main problem.”
TIB Executive Director Iftekharuzzaman said, “If the doctors are appreciated or recognised for their good work and ensured punishment for corruption then the health sector will be transparent. Bangladesh has many successes in the health sector, despite many mismanagement issues.”