'Rural primary health care service sets an example'

The dialogue was held at Sonargaon Hotel organised by All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) of Bangladesh National Parliament. The speakers said the rural programs have set a wonderful example for health care services to follow in Dhaka for the urban poor. In comparison, the problem of malnutrition is more complex, especially when it comes to service delivery system and nutritional governance, they said. President of APPG Dr Dipu Moni stressed the importance of having public health programmes. “The urban poor have less access to nutritious food and health care services.” She suggested a mapping of health problems in urban areas, while pointing out the difficulties of implementing large scale health programmes. “There is lack of coordination among policy and planning,” she said. Senior Policy Advisor of APPG Tim Zahid Hossain urged for the creation of social safety net programmes for the urban poor in his key-note presentation. Dr AM Zakir Hussain, former director of Primary Health Care for the Directorate General of Health Services, said: “The urban health policy needs to be reviewed as it does not have any institutional framework and an action plan.” State Minister for Health Zahid Malik and a dozen MPs took part in the dialogue.