Experts call for effective use of health budget, universal health protection through family card
Experts say increasing the health budget alone is not enough, stressing the need for effective utilisation, institutional reforms and universal health protection through mechanisms
Health experts, economists and policy specialists stressed that simply increasing the health sector budget will not strengthen Bangladesh's healthcare system – it is equally essential to ensure effective use of resources, institutional reforms, and robust financial protection mechanisms for citizens.
These points were highlighted at a roundtable discussion titled "Health Budget: Expectations for Greater Allocation and Proper Implementation," organised by Public Integrity Network for Evidence and Transparency (PINET) today (19 May) at the National Press Club in the capital.
Dhaka University professor of the Health Economics Institute, Dr Syed Abdul Hamid, presented a keynote at the discussion.
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The presentation stated that people of the country expect a health budget that will ensure accessible, affordable, and quality healthcare for all – especially for the poor and vulnerable. It emphasised the need to increase public spending in the health sector, ensure equitable distribution of resources, expand preventive and health-promotion services, reduce out-of-pocket expenditure, and improve public health infrastructure.
Dr Hamid said that before demanding a significant budget increase, the health sector must demonstrate optimal use of existing resources, full utilisation of allocated funds, strengthened institutional readiness, greater accountability, and improved service delivery capacity.
He also proposed transforming the "Family Card" into a comprehensive "Health Protection Card," which would provide financial coverage for hospitalisation, maternal health services, accident and emergency care, and treatment of critical illnesses. Under the proposed framework, each family would receive a fixed annual financial coverage for essential healthcare, protecting them from catastrophic health expenditure.
Through this transformation, citizens would become aware of the monetary value of services received at public health facilities, institutional accountability would increase, and excessive personal spending on hospitalisation and emergency treatment would be reduced, he added.
To achieve this, the government would only need to assign a monetary value to services provided at public health institutions – such as referred outpatient services, maternal health services, general hospitalisation, and basic emergency care – with a proposed annual coverage of approximately Tk50,000 to Tk1,00,000 per family. For complex diseases, specialised treatment, and tertiary-level care, an annual coverage of Tk3, 00,000 to Tk5,00,000 per family is recommended at his presentation.
Moderated by PINET coordinator Nazmul Hasan, the discussion was addressed among others by Dr Mosleh Uddin Farid MP, former member of the Health Sector Reform Commission Dr. Abu Muhammad Zakir Hossain and National Citizen Party Joint Convener Sarwar Tushar.
Dr Mosleh Uddin Farid called on the government to provide incentives for doctors to work in remote and marginal areas.
Sarwar Tushar urged all to avoid political rhetoric with a call for the implementation of the Reform Commission's report, stating that increasing the budget without reform would only lead to wastage.
Dr Abu Muhammad Zakir Hossain emphasised the need for focusing more on managerial leadership to ensure proper utilisation of the budget, and called for ensuring transparency in construction and procurement sectors.
