Govt to introduce Tk50,000 health coverage package for poor patients
The government will provide additional medicine and medical supplies worth Tk50,000 per person annually outside the free government medicine to 60 lakh people of 15 lakh poor families through the Universal Health Coverage project.
"Only Tk36 will be spent from your pocket. The government will pay the rest. The government will spend Tk50,000 annually on health care for each person," Health Minister Zahid Maleque said in a meeting on increasing primary health care across the country at the ministry on Monday.
"This healthcare will be introduced across the country in phases," he said.
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The minister said that each family will be given a healthcare card. With this card, everyone will get free medical care, medicine, and travel expenses in health coverage through the UHC package under the Shyastha Surokkha Karmasuchi.
Initially, 60 lakh people of the 15 lakh families will be benefitted from the programme in six districts including Kurigram, Manikganj, Barisal, Barguna, Laxmipur, Lalmonirhat and Dhaka North and South City Corporation, he added.
"Serious and very expensive diseases like cancer, kidney, liver cirrhosis are increasing now in the country, treatment cost of which is very high. That is why the government has taken initiative to stand by the helpless and poor people by subsidising the medical expenses," he said.
The cervical cancer vaccine programme for women will start in September this year. Initially, it will be given to children aged 10 to 15, said Zahid Maleque.
The health minister said that currently female cancer patients are dying mostly due to cervical cancer. As a result of this vaccine programme, the incidence and death rate of cervical cancer in the country will come down significantly, he added.
In the meeting, the minister informed that various initiatives have been undertaken to improve the quality of healthcare across the country even in the district, upazila and union-level hospitals.
He also said that health awareness mini pocket health guide books have been given to school-level students.
The minister claimed that health services will be available 24 hours a day initially at 500 centres instead of eight hours in a bid to strengthen the country's primary health care.
