Health minister vows total purge of institutional corruption by next fiscal
He said meaningful improvement in healthcare services would not be possible unless three key stakeholders, the administration, service providers (including doctors and nurses), and pharmaceutical manufacturers, work together with integrity.
Health and Family Welfare Minister Sardar Md Sakhawat Husain said today (7 April) that the health ministry will be made completely free of corruption from the beginning of the next fiscal year.
"The desired progress in the health sector is being hindered by corruption and a lack of coordination," he said at an event held at the Shaheed Abu Sayed International Convention Centre in Shahbagh, Dhaka.
He said meaningful improvement in healthcare services would not be possible unless three key stakeholders, the administration, service providers (including doctors and nurses), and pharmaceutical manufacturers, work together with integrity.
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Highlighting irregularities in the pharmaceutical sector, he said that some companies are getting approval to market substandard medicines. "While drugs are supposed to contain 70% of active ingredients, approvals are sometimes granted even when they fall short."
Meanwhile, some manufacturers producing quality medicines are being deliberately obstructed, he added.
The minister also pointed to corruption in procurement within the health sector, noting that irregularities in large purchases have become common.
"In many cases, tender conditions are designed in a way that benefits specific companies, thereby institutionalising corruption," he said.
He added that although there are around 20 variants of the measles vaccine globally, specific variants are often mentioned in procurement documents to favour certain parties.
"As a result, corruption is preventing the benefits of science and innovation from reaching the general public."
Expressing frustration over dengue control and drug quality, he said that although medicines pass quality tests, they often fail in practice because they are diluted with kerosene or water, making them ineffective in killing mosquitoes.
Addressing mismanagement in hospitals, Sakhawat said that the quality of food provided to patients is questionable. "Finding cockroaches in food can worsen patients' conditions rather than aid recovery."
The minister further warned that indiscriminate battery burning and industrial emissions are causing lung diseases, stating that while treatment is being provided on one hand, environmental pollution is crippling people on the other.
