Bangladesh's healthcare system has long faced staff shortages, weak governance, poor services, and widespread public dissatisfaction. The newly elected government has announced reforms including upgrading upazila health complexes to 101-bed hospitals, recruiting 5,000 doctors, improving hospital services, dismantling broker syndicates, ensuring doctor attendance, increasing procurement transparency, putting idle medical equipment into use, and strengthening immunization amid the ongoing measles outbreak.
How realistic are these plans? Can years of institutional decline be reversed? And when will quality healthcare reach people outside major cities?
In an interview with Dhaka Tribune Staff Reporter Tanvir Hasan, State Minister for Health and Family Planning Dr MA Muhit said the government's objective is not merely to solve immediate problems but to build an accountable, efficient healthcare system capable of delivering quality services nationwide.
The government plans to upgrade upazila health complexes from 50 to 101 beds. Without increasing manpower, can this really improve healthcare?
Increasing bed capacity alone is not enough, and that is not our plan. As hospitals expand, staffing, equipment, logistics, and support systems must also grow.
Recruitment for 5,000 doctors has already begun, while additional doctors, nurses, midwives, and support staff will be appointed as new positions receive approval. Infrastructure development will take time, but planning is underway with technical input from doctors and engineers to ensure modern, sustainable facilities.
This is part of our broader commitment to strengthen the healthcare workforce through a phased approach where infrastructure, manpower, and logistics develop together.
Public hospitals have long been criticized for leaving expensive medical equipment unused. How will your government prevent this?
Most of these problems were inherited. Equipment was often purchased without trained operators, installation planning, or maintenance, leaving costly machines idle.
Our approach is different. Procurement will be based on actual needs, and no equipment will be installed unless trained personnel are ready to operate it. Healthcare delivery—not procurement—must become the priority.
We also inherited weakened institutions. At Dhaka Medical College, for example, deteriorating hostel buildings now pose safety risks. That culture of neglect must end.
Patients still complain about brokers, absent doctors, medicine shortages, and poor services. What concrete steps are being taken?
Since taking office, we have visited facilities from medical colleges to union-level health centres. Four major problems stand out: broker syndicates, absent doctors, shortages of essential medicines, and non-functional diagnostic equipment.
People simply want hospitals free from brokers, doctors present, medicines available, and functioning diagnostic services.
To improve security and discipline, every upazila health complex has been assigned 10 permanent Ansar personnel—nearly 5,000 nationwide. It will not solve every problem overnight, but it is an important first step, with additional measures under consideration.
Ansar personnel themselves have faced misconduct allegations. How effective will this be?
Corruption is not unique to any institution. The real issue is weak systems.
Bangladesh needs institutions driven by systems rather than individuals. Technology can strengthen accountability by automatically identifying irregularities, much like AI-powered traffic monitoring. That is the direction we want to move toward.
Why are many doctors still reluctant to serve in upazilas and remote areas?
Our field inspections and digital attendance records show the problem extends beyond rural areas.
In several Dhaka institutions, 40% to 50% of doctors posted there are not regularly present. Similar patterns exist in many upazilas, meaning absenteeism is a nationwide administrative problem rather than simply a rural one.
Today's upazilas are far better connected than in the past. The real issue is the collapse of accountability, where absenteeism carried few consequences for years.
That culture must change. Institutional discipline begins from the top, and we are committed to rebuilding a system where accountability is enforced consistently.
District and upazila hospitals still cannot provide round-the-clock laboratory services. Why?
Before discussing 24-hour services, we must first restore the basics. In many hospitals, even daytime diagnostic services collapsed because equipment remained non-functional.
Our immediate goal is that every patient visiting a government hospital between 8am and 2pm can see a doctor, receive necessary tests, and obtain essential medicines. The healthcare system is still being rebuilt.
Once those basics are restored, what comes next?
We do not believe in unrealistic promises. We are preparing a five-year healthcare reform roadmap with the Planning Ministry.
The first two years will focus on restoring basic healthcare, making institutions functional, and ensuring essential services. The following three years will expand and improve the system.
Upgrading upazila hospitals to 101 beds is central to that plan. Infrastructure work has already begun and will continue over the next 18 months alongside recruitment and institutional reforms.
From the third year onward, we aim to introduce 24-hour services, strengthen emergency care, improve security for healthcare workers, and make greater use of technology.
Our goal is to implement reforms step by step rather than make promises.
The health sector has long faced allegations of procurement corruption. How will transparency improve?
Procurement corruption has undoubtedly been a serious problem. However, the Ministry of Health oversees nearly 1,500 purchasing entities, with hospitals and medical colleges conducting procurement independently.
The issue is not decentralization but failure to follow existing procurement rules and the electronic Government Procurement system because of weak governance.
Our responsibility is to ensure those rules are followed transparently. Good governance depends on political commitment. Businesses should earn legitimate profits, but misuse of public funds must end.
During the government's first five months, neither the prime minister nor Cabinet members have faced major corruption allegations. People deserve a healthcare system where their taxes are spent properly.
There have been disputes involving the Bangladesh Doctors' Association (DAB), particularly over appointments. How is the government addressing them?
Personally, I do not believe party politics belongs in professional organizations representing doctors or teachers.
Bangladesh has more than 100,000 registered doctors, including over 40,000 in government service. Compared with those numbers, DAB's membership is relatively small, and the perception that it controls the healthcare system is exaggerated.
Disagreements over appointments are inevitable across more than 1,500 healthcare institutions. What matters is how the government responds.
Where appointments were found to be inappropriate and legitimate objections were raised, we reversed those decisions. We are prepared to acknowledge mistakes and correct them.
I also welcome evidence-based criticism from the media. We are rebuilding a healthcare system that deteriorated over nearly two decades, and while mistakes may occur, they will be corrected.
More than 800 children have died in the measles outbreak. Will anyone be held accountable? And does Bangladesh have enough vaccines?
The outbreak resulted from corruption under the previous government combined with later policy failures. Whether individuals are held accountable is a matter for the legal process, but my immediate priority is saving lives.
Following the outbreak, we held extensive consultations with EPI, surveillance teams, database managers, and immunization experts to assess vaccine demand.
We have completed month-by-month projections, placed procurement orders where shortages were identified, and introduced regular monitoring of vaccine stocks at both central and field levels. Based on current planning, Bangladesh has sufficient vaccine supplies for the coming year.
Parents often discover their children missed scheduled vaccine doses without being informed. How will this be addressed?
This is a serious concern. We found cases where children received the first dose but parents were never informed about subsequent doses.
We need greater public awareness so parents understand the vaccination schedule, alongside stronger accountability among healthcare workers.
Around 50,000 healthcare workers currently serve under the ministry, and another 100,000 will be recruited over the coming years. Both existing staff and new recruits will receive comprehensive training focused on immunization, accountability, professional responsibility, and service quality to ensure such failures do not happen again.
"Our goal is not simply to fix problems," Dr Muhit said. "We want to build a healthcare system that works—one that is accountable, efficient, and capable of delivering quality services to every citizen."
