Health and Family Welfare Minister Sardar Md Sakhawat Husain has reaffirmed Bangladesh’s commitment to achieving universal health coverage (UHC) by 2030, saying the government is working to ensure essential healthcare for everyone, regardless of location or social status.
He made the remarks at the first BIMSTEC Health Ministers’ Conference in Colombo, Sri Lanka, attended by health ministers, policymakers and experts from member countries.
Sakhawat highlighted progress in reducing maternal and neonatal mortality, maintaining the country’s polio-free status and expanding immunisation programs.
He said HPV vaccination coverage had risen from 2% to more than 85% since the formation of the new government, with a target of reaching full coverage by the end of November.
The minister said the government, under Prime Minister Tarique Rahman’s leadership, had doubled the health sector budget to 1.01% of GDP, with plans to gradually raise it to 5%.
He outlined plans to strengthen preventive and primary healthcare, including establishing primary healthcare centres in more than 4,600 unions and upgrading upazila health complexes from 50 to 151 beds.
Other initiatives include introducing solar power at major government health facilities, improving medical waste management at 15 major hospitals and adopting the One Health approach.
The government is also working to introduce an integrated electronic health record system and unique e-Health IDs to digitise healthcare services.
To strengthen regional health security, Sakhawat proposed setting up a BIMSTEC Regional Genetic Disease Observatory and Early Warning System.
He stressed the importance of regional cooperation in tackling non-communicable diseases, climate-related health risks, antimicrobial resistance and pandemics, saying Bangladesh was ready to work with other member states through joint initiatives and knowledge-sharing.
