Health Minister Mohammed Nasim has said the upcoming budget will allot Tk11,000 crore for the health sector, but also expressed his discontent, claiming that the small increase from last year’s Tk9,000 crore was not enough.
“Although the amount of money has increased by Tk2,000 crore, I am not satisfied at all. In order to ensure quality healthcare services for all, the health budget must increase more.
“If the budget does not increase further, then how can I allocate money to buy necessary MRI, x-ray and other medical equipments and drugs? Please write about my dissatisfaction in all print and electronic media, I do not mind,” Nasim added.
The minister made the comments while talking to reporters at the PID conference room following his return yesterday from the world health assembly in Switzerland’s Geneva.
Also present there, Health Secretary MM Niazuddin expressed his hopes that the health budget would increase to Tk19,000 crore for the 2015-16 fiscal.
Saying the projection for the upcoming budget had been prepared last year, Niazuddin said the budget could not be increased further despite efforts by both the minister and himself.
A couple of months ago, Health Minister Nasim told journalists that he would fight the finance minister if needed in order to increase the health budget.
In yesterday’s press briefing, the minister claimed that Bangladesh’s participation in the world health assembly has been successful.
Although there were allegations in the past that visiting teams to the health assembly had wasted time by shopping or travelling, the latest conference saw a small group of only ten people actively participating, Nasim said.
The biggest achievement was the passage of a proposal placed by Bangladesh on comprehensive and coordinated efforts for the management of autism spectrum disorders.
Sources said the allocation in the health sector was around only 1% of the country’s GDP for the outgoing fiscal, compared to other countries where the figure was between 2% and 3%.
The national budget for the 2013-14 fiscal had allocated an outlay of Tk9,495 crore in the health sector, which is only 4.7% of the total budget; the amount was Tk9,355 crore or 4.86% of the budget for the 2012-13 fiscal.
The country’s health policy of 2000 says the minimum per capita expenditure on health should be $12, but according to the world health organization (WHO) it should be $34 in Bangladesh.
