Doctors, patients’ safety among government’s top priorities: Health State Minister

Ensuring the safety of both doctors and patients is one of the government’s top priorities, State Minister for Health Dr MA Muhit said on Monday.He said the government is highly concerned about the safety of doctors as well as patients seeking healthcare and has already taken several measures to address the issue.The state minister made the remarks as the chief guest at the joining and orientation programme for newly appointed doctors under the 48th Special BCS Health Cadre. The programme was organised by the Health Services Division at Shaheed Abu Sayeed International Convention Centre in Shahbagh, Dhaka.Addressing the newly appointed doctors, Muhit said they would soon take on the responsibility of serving people across different parts of the country.Ensuring a safe working environment and protection for doctors is important. At the same time, it is the government’s responsibility to ensure that people seeking healthcare receive safe and quality treatment. We are equally concerned about both, he said.Referring to a recent government decision to strengthen security at healthcare facilities, he said 5,000 Ansar members would be deployed at upazila health complexes across the country as an immediate measure to ensure doctors’ safety.However, he stressed that improving security alone would not be enough. The overall healthcare environment also needs to be improved, he said.According to Muhit, improving the quality of medical services, hospital environments and ensuring adequate medicines and other facilities for patients would help reduce public frustration.Addressing the root causes of people’s grievances can prevent unwanted situations, he said.Speaking about reforms in the health sector and the government’s election pledges, Muhit said the election manifesto contains 20 specific commitments aimed at building a healthier Bangladesh.Not a single one of these commitments can be implemented without the active participation of doctors, he said.The state minister said the government had inherited a broken healthcare system affected by corruption, irregularities and the influence of middlemen.But we have to fundamentally transform the system based on reality, he said.Muhit also told the newly appointed BCS officers that passing the BCS examination should not be considered the final destination, but rather the starting point of a long professional career.He urged the doctors to develop administrative skills alongside their medical expertise.You are both doctors and first-class government officers. Knowing medicine alone is not enough. From the beginning, you need to gain a proper understanding of government procurement procedures, e-tendering and administrative management, he said.He also called on the doctors to work in coordination with other officials at the upazila level and reduce institutional distance among field-level officials.Outlining the future direction of the country’s healthcare system, Muhit urged the newly appointed doctors to become technology-oriented and research-focused.He said the government is working to establish a modern digital health system, adding that the new generation of doctors would have to lead the effort to build the system and ensure uninterrupted access to modern healthcare for the people in the coming decades. Director General of the Directorate General of Health Services Prof Dr Prabhat Chandra Biswas, Health Services Division Secretary Dr ANM Bazlur Rashid and Director General of the Directorate General of Medical Education Prof Dr Md Nazmul Hossain, among others, also spoke at the programme.