The Health Ministry is going to finalise the draft of the private medical and dental college establishment act 2014 soon.
A meeting to finalise the draft is expected to be held at the ministry today, with Ayubur Rahman, additional secretary (medical education and development), in the chair.
The ministry had earlier sought opinions from different ministries and stakeholders regarding the draft act.
Motiur Rahman, joint secretary (medical education) of the Health Ministry, told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday efforts were underway to finalise the act soon but no specific date to table it in the parliament was set yet.
“There are steps needed to be taken before the act makes its way to the House,” he said.
Dr ZH Basunia, registrar of Bangladesh Medical and Dental Council (BMDC), said the act should be implemented fast considering the gradual rise in the number of private medical and dental institutions.
“The act will ensure that the standard of medical education is maintained at all the private institutions,” he said.
At present, the number of private medical colleges stands at 55 with 4,800 seats and there are 18 dental colleges that have 1,050 seats. No act is currently there to ensure smooth operation of the 73 private institutions and all are run in accordance with a policy.
According to the private medical and dental college establishment policy, a 50-seat medical college applying for approval must have a 250-bed hospital that has been in operation for at least two years, with 75% of the beds occupied at the time of application.
The college must also ensure certain facilities in terms of infrastructure, equipment, number of departments, doctors, nurses, staff and laboratories.
The policy also suggests that a medical or dental college, after obtaining permission, has to ensure adequate accommodation facilities for students in line with the BMDC act.
Several medical education experts told the Dhaka Tribune it is difficult to operate private medical and dental colleges according to the policy. They said the policy has many provisions to follow but the ministry cannot compel the private medical institution owners to do so.
The majority of the private medical and dental colleges do not follow the policy, sources said. If the ministry attempts to take any action, the owners often file lawsuit and take stay order from court.
The first private medical college in the country, Bangladesh Medical College, was established in 1985 in the capital’s Dhanmondi.
From 1985 to 2005, 26 medical colleges received approval, with the rest obtaining it after 2005.
