Staff Reporter:
State Minister for Health and Family Welfare Dr MA Muhit yesterday said that the Bangladesh Institute of Health Management (BIHM) in Savar, which has remained neglected and largely unused for years, would formally begin its operations from January 1 next year.
“By December 31, all necessary renovation works will be completed and the institute will be fully prepared. Administrative training for doctors will begin here from January 1,” he said.
The state minister made the remarks after inspecting the infrastructure of the BIHM in Savar on the outskirts of the capital this afternoon, said a press release.
Earlier, he held a meeting with local public representatives, politicians, the health secretary, Secretary General of Doctors Association of Bangladesh (DAB), engineers of the Public Works Department (PWD) and other government officials.
The meeting decided that a joint team comprising officials from the Health and Family Welfare Ministry, Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) and PWD would conduct a field inspection within the next two weeks and prepare an inventory of damaged or missing equipment.
The PWD will also take steps within the next one or two days to arrange working spaces for officials and make the substation operational, according to the meeting decision.
Announcing the formal inauguration of the institute on January 1, Dr Muhit said the facility, which remained neglected due to mismanagement during the previous government, will be transformed into a national training centre to develop doctors as efficient administrators.
He said the government is working to rebuild the country’s health system and establish a more effective system of healthcare delivery.
“The fascist government destroyed the entire health system of Bangladesh by wasting public money and turning corruption into a tool,” Dr Muhit said, adding, the present government inherited a health system in a state of deterioration after assuming office with public mandate.
Referring to Prime Minister Tarique Rahman’s return to Bangladesh on December 25 last year, the state minister said he (Tarique Rahman) had declared before millions of people, who welcomed him, that “We have a plan.”
“As part of that plan, work is underway to rebuild the devastated Bangladesh, restructure the health system and take healthcare services to people’s doorsteps,” he said.
Dr Muhit further said the government will pursue a politics of public service rather than a politics centred on public rallies.
“The present government will work with the people and build the country by resisting all forms of corruption and wrongdoing,” he said.
During the inspection, local lawmaker Dewan Mohammod Salahuddin, Health Services Division Secretary Dr ANM Bazlur Rashid, DAB Secretary General Dr Md Zahirul Islam Shakil, DGHS Additional Director General Professor Dr Foara Tasmim and Prof Dr Md Zahid Raihan were present, among others.
