Mother and child hospitals to be built in all districts: Health minister

Health and Family Welfare Minister Zahid Maleque on Sunday said separate hospitals for mothers and children will be constructed in all districts across the country very soon.

"Hundreds of health centres in the country provide 24-hour healthcare for expectant mothers. Very soon around 50-bed separate hospitals for mothers and children will be constructed in all districts," the minister made the disclosure at a programme in the National Institute of Preventive and Social Medicine in the capital's Mohakhali.

Calling for an end to child labour and child marriage on the occasion of National Children's Day, the health minister said, "In many stores and factories, children are made to work, which is a punishable crime." 

Despite various campaigns and initiatives taken by the government to prevent child marriage, it is still going on, he noted.

"Child labour and child marriage must be stopped everywhere," the minister said adding that moving forward, Bangladesh needs healthy and intelligent children.

Regarding the upcoming national elections, the health minister said that no one will be allowed to practice anarchy in the country.

"The elections will be fair as there are rules. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will not accept any proposition outside those rules," he said.