Staff Reporter:
Finance Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury yesterday stressed the need for stronger public-private collaboration and greater emphasis on entrepreneurship to ensure the sustainable transformation of Bangladesh’s health sector and make quality healthcare more affordable for all.
“Increasing budget allocations alone would not be enough to improve healthcare services,” he said while addressing a program titled “Pathways to Health Entrepreneurship in Bangladesh” at Hotel Amari in the capital.
The program was attended by Prime Minister’s wife and Vice President of the Ziaur Rahman Foundation Dr. Zubaida Rahman as the chief guest.
Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury said effective utilization of existing resources through coordinated efforts, strategic planning and continuous dialogue between the public and private sectors would be cru-cial for the sector’s long-term development.
Welcoming the initiative to establish a consultative alliance for the health sector, he said Bangladesh al-ready has a strong foundation, including capable entrepreneurs, modern diagnostic centers, private hospi-tals and a globally competitive pharmaceutical industry.
He noted that the national budget has introduced significant incentives for the pharmaceutical sector, including the establishment of dedicated zones for the production of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API) to strengthen the country’s manufacturing capacity.
Expressing concern over Bangladesh’s high out-of-pocket healthcare expenditure, the finance minister said closer public-private partnership (PPP) would be essential to reducing treatment costs and ensuring affordable healthcare for all citizens.
The finance minister expressed optimism that visionary leadership, supportive policies and the efforts of the country’s entrepreneurs would help bring about a transformative change in the health sector and en-sure quality healthcare reaches people’s doorsteps.
