Published: 11:24 PM, 06 November 2026
Govt unveils comprehensive plan to rebuild health system
State Minister for Health and Family Welfare Dr MA Muhit said the present government has made comprehensive plans to rebuild the country’s total healthcare system while addressing a program recently. - AA
The government has unveiled a comprehensive plan to rebuild the country's healthcare system through upgrading upazila hospitals, expanding grassroots primary healthcare, recruiting a massive health workforce, modernising diagnostic facilities and decentralising cancer treatment.
The government has allocated a record Tk 69,409 crore to the health sector in the current fiscal year, equivalent to 7.4 percent of the total national budget, as part of its efforts to overhaul the sector.
"We have inherited a collapsed healthcare system due to corruption over the past 15 years of fascist regime and mismanagement during the interim government. Many healthcare facilities at union and upazila levels had not received adequate repair or renovation for years," State Minister for Health and Family Welfare Dr MA Muhit told BSS.
Therefore, after assuming office, the present government has made comprehensive plans to rebuild the country's total healthcare system, he said, adding that, "This is not about one or two projects; we have to reconstruct the health system through an integrated plan."
The government has proposed a Tk 44,757.385 crore project to progressively upgrade upazila health complexes and expand specialised and emergency services there aimed at reducing pressure on district and divisional level hospitals.
The project, scheduled for implementation from December 2026 to December 2029 and currently under finalisation, includes upgrading 18 hospitals to 51 beds, 305 hospitals to 101 beds, 83 hospitals to 132 beds, 13 hospitals to 120 beds, nine hospitals to 151 beds and another 15 hospitals to 151 beds.
It also includes integrated multistorey service buildings at 443 upazilas and residential facilities for doctors, nurses and other staff at 15 upazilas.
"Existing 30- and 50-bed upazila health complexes are no longer adequate for many areas where populations have increased substantially. Some upazilas now serve eight to 10 lakh people," Dr Muhit said.
He said the government has therefore taken a "historic decision" to transform health complexes in all 503 upazilas into full-fledged 151-bed hospitals.
The upgraded facilities will provide intensive and coronary care, one-stop emergency services, medicine, surgery, ENT, ophthalmology, paediatrics, maternal care, kidney dialysis, cancer screening and physiotherapy, including services for stroke and paralysis patients, alongside pathological and other diagnostic facilities.
The government has also proposed a Tk 119.932582 billion project to establish 14,634 primary healthcare hubs and 1,631 primary healthcare centres at union and ward levels.
The project, also scheduled for implementation from December 2026 to December 2029 and currently under finalisation, includes rebuilding 5,936 facilities, repairing or remodelling 8,348 and constructing 350 new facilities for the hubs. For the centres, it proposes rebuilding 428 facilities, repairing or remodelling 605 and constructing 598 new ones.
The project also provides for furniture at 6,286 new or rebuilt hubs and 1,026 new or rebuilt centres, alongside medical equipment for 1,026 centres. Supporting infrastructure would include safe water, electricity or solar power, sanitation, drainage, waste management, fire safety and accessible entrances.
The government has undertaken the project with primary healthcare at the center of its reform plan, M A Muhit said.
Once the project is completed, around 140,000 health workers, trained and equipped with toolkits, would deliver healthcare services at those facilities.
They will visit households regularly- at least once every two months- to provide basic healthcare advice and services and will be able to check blood pressure and blood glucose levels to help detect hypertension and diabetes early and refer patients requiring advanced treatment to upazila facilities.
"We want to take healthcare not merely to people's doorsteps, but inside their homes," M A Muhit said.
Since the country faces a serious shortage of healthcare professionals, the government has taken extensive plans to recruit healthcare workers, including physicians, paramedics, nurses, midwives and health workers.
According to M A Muhit, Bangladesh has only about one-third of the number of nurses recommended by the World Health Organization, while medical technologists and other health professionals are also in short supply.
Therefore, he said, the government has already initiated recruitment of 5,000 physicians through the Bangladesh Public Service Commission, while several thousand physicians have already been recruited and posted at upazila level during the first eight months of the government.
Recruitment of another 2,500 nurses has also begun, while 25,000 midwives will be recruited over the next five years to strengthen maternal healthcare and ensure safer childbirth.
Besides, the government also plans to recruit 100,000 additional health workers, on top of the existing 40,000, taking the total to around 140,000, who will deliver healthcare services at union and ward levels.
The recruitment process for the first 30,000 health workers has already begun, M A Muhit said.
