Bangladesh Govt plans to bring all citizens under National Health Insurance

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has said that the government is planning to bring all citizens under national health insurance coverage to ensure healthcare services. In this regard, the government is implementing a pilot project in Madhupur, Ghatail and Kalihati upazilas of Tangail by bringing poor people under health insurance coverage, the PM said. The government has already formulated the Healthcare Financing Strategy 2012-2032 to ensure universal healthcare services, she said in a scripted answer to a query from Jatiya Party lawmaker Rustum Ali Faraji during the PM’s question-answer session. The government has undertaken the pilot project titled “Shasthya Suraksha Kormosuchi” (Health Protection Programme) to initially provide free healthcare services to the poor in the three upazilas of Tangail. Under the project, free healthcare is being provided to poor people for 78 diseases. “Work on spreading the pilot project to all nine upazilas of Tangail is going on. If the piloting is successful, the activities will be expanded throughout the country,” Hasina said. The PM also said the government has taken various steps to reach healthcare services to people’s doorstep. The government has different projects to build and renovate health-related infrastructure, and increase the number of beds at hospitals by 2022, Hasina said.