CPD for raising health budget

The Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) has advised the government to determine the allocation for health sector in the upcoming budget on the basis of proper demand assessment and the channel of budgetary allocation.

The demands include- health facilities, human resources, equipment, training, sharing the out-of-pocket burden of treatment cost of the affected individuals.

Besides, the government was asked to determine whether non-development budget will increase or new projects targeting Covid-19 will be taken under the ADP.

As part of CPD's Independent Review of Bangladesh's Development (IRBD) programme, CPD has put forward their recommendations on its interim review of the national economy, titled "Challenges of Policy Making in Times of Pandemics; State of the Bangladesh Economy in FY2020" published today.

The review report said, "Covid-19 pandemic should induce the government to follow-up on its commitment of achieving universal health coverage (UHC)."

The report also suggested that the government should revisit its election manifesto commitment to provide cost-free health services to every person below the age of one and above 65.

"The next budget will also be a good opportunity for the government to follow-up on its commitment of raising the health budget to 12% in 2021 as outlined in the Health Care Financing Strategy 2012-2032," it added.

However, the allocation for health as share of total budget has fallen from 5.1% in budget of FY19 to 4.9% in the budget of FY20. It has remained stagnant at 0.9% as a share of GDP