POBNEWS24, Dhaka, Sept 22, 2023 : Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina called on international partners to increase cooperation in five areas to ensure healthcare for all. He made this call while addressing the UNGA high-level meeting on ‘Universal Health Coverage (UHC)’ at the conference room of the United Nations headquarters on Thursday.
The fields are:
First, sustaining development assistance for child, maternal and adolescent health and addressing migrant health and climate health cycles.
Second, to exchange expertise in developing an interoperable, data-driven health information system with a health ID for all.
Thirdly, to help us develop a robust health insurance scheme.
Fourth, increase investment in the health sector, including fast-growing health-tech startups.
Fifth, to comply with the ‘TRIP’ (Traffic Response and Information Partnership) obligations of patent disclosure and technology transfer to protect public health.
The Prime Minister said, ‘We have a constitutional obligation to ensure access to health services for all in Bangladesh.
We have established nationwide healthcare systems ranging from community clinics to specialized medical hospitals. We work closely with private partners at the grassroots level.’
He said, increasing investment in Bangladesh’s health sector has paid dividends; Because Bangladesh has brought down the maternal mortality rate to 163 per 100,000 births. In addition to these, the infant mortality rate fell to 15 and the under-five mortality rate to 28 per 1,000 births.
He said, ‘Our emphasis on child immunization has achieved universal coverage. Our average life expectancy is now close to 73 years.’ He mentioned that Bangladesh has been recognized as one of the best countries in the world in managing the Covid-19 pandemic.
‘We are now working on high alert to deal with dengue. We are introducing advanced treatments for cancer, diabetes and heart disease,’ he said.
The Prime Minister said that Bangladesh has established the standard of providing medical services in humanitarian and peacekeeping operations. Bangladesh’s policies and actions on mental health and neurological disorders are widely praised.
She said, ‘We provide reproductive health care in a culturally sensitive manner. We are raising awareness about nutrition, visual impairment and drowning.’
To avoid climate crisis, be honest
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has said that major economies of the world must work honestly on climate change to avoid the impending crisis. He said, “We hope that the major economies of the world will be honest about their fair share to avoid climate change and the coming crisis.”
The Prime Minister made these remarks at the Climate Ambition Summit’s high-level thematic session on ‘Delivering Climate Justice: Accelerating Ambition and Adaptation and Implementing Early Warnings for All’ at the ECOSOC Chamber in New York, USA yesterday.
The Prime Minister said Bangladesh’s experience proves that investing in adaptation and early warning is right. “We hope our development partners will use these opportunities to deliver climate justice,” he said.
Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF) Thematic Ambassador Saima Wazed was present on the occasion.
Signature on BBNJ
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina signed the Marine Biodiversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) Convention to protect the world’s oceans and rivers from damage to fragile marine environments caused by overfishing and other human activities.
