Staff Correspondent

Health and Family Welfare Minister Professor Dr Samanta Lal Sen has stressed the need for boosting confidence on healthcare services in the country.

"We are focusing on restoring confidence of the people through improvement of healthcare services at all levels of medical facilities in the country," he told a media briefing at his ministry on Sunday (January 28), an official release said.

Secretary of Medical Education and Family Welfare Division Azizur Rahman, Director General of the Directorate General of the Health Services (DGHS) ABM Khurshid Alam, Director General of Directorate of Drug Administration Major General Mohammad Yusuf and Additional Secretary of Health Service Division Md Saidur Rahman, among others, were present at the media briefing.

Samanta Lal said, "Many people are going abroad for taking better treatment as they have less confidence on country's health sector."

The trend of lack of confidence is seen both in urban and rural setting in the country, he said, adding, "Taking this into consideration, we are going to take massive initiatives for overall improvement in the medical sector to discourage the people from going abroad to receive better healthcare services."

On November 1, 2023, Saima Wazed, daughter of Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, has been nominated as World Health Organisation's (WHO) new regional director for South East Asia region for a five-year term beginning from 2024 in an election.

Saima was elected in a secret ballot with the participation of 10 member states of WHO regional nations and she bagged 8 votes and her contender Shambhu Prasad Acharya of Nepal received 2.

"She will take office formally on February 1, 2024," the health minister added.

He called Saima's nomination as a "milestone achievement" as she is the first Bangladeshi who is set to assume the position.

"She is set to oversee the health issue of the world’s one fourth population," an official of DGHS said explaining that the 11 SEARO countries are the home of 1.97 billion people, while the total global population is currently 8 billion.

He said Saima could as well play a role in three areas -- women empowerment, gender parity and poverty alleviation – since these sectors were indirectly related to the health sector.

For Bangladesh, the DGHS official said, these sectors were crucial for achieving different Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The health ministry sources said the South East Asia Regional Organization (SEARO) is one of the six regions of WHO with its headquarters in New Delhi.

It comprises 11 countries -- Bangladesh, Bhutan, DPR Korea, India, Indonesia, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Timor Leste.