Deliver more social services
The Prime Minister was launching a new foreign-aided health project marking the golden jubilee of DAB in the city yesterday.
She lauded the role of the Diabetic Association in ensuring people's good health and increasing life expectancy through proper healthcare of people suffering from diabetic diseases that eat into the vitals of life.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. "We believe people are actual resources of the country. And the objective of development is to ensure good health and long life of people as well as increase working capacity," Khaleda told a function of the DAB marking the inauguration of the golden jubilee of founding of the association.
She told the function that her government has adopted a long-term health nutrition and population programme for 2003 to 2010 involving Tk 32,450 crore.
The project has been taken in line with poverty reduction strategy paper and millennium development goal targets aiming to control population, increase reproductive health service and further reduce maternal and child mortality rates, she said.
On the occasion of 50th Anniversary of DAB, Khaleda inaugurated a yearlong programme of the association and a Bangladesh-Netherlands joint project titled Health Care Development Project (HCDP) on the DAB premises at Darussalam in Mirpur.
The aim of the healthcare project is to empower people to take care of their own health. HCDP envisages forming a countrywide network of general care delivery by using and expanding the DAB facilities and the Ibrahim model.
Appreciating and recalling the extraordinary performance and contribution of late National
Professor Dr Mohammad Ibrahim, she urged the physicians and health-service providers to take a lesson from the life of persons like him and adopt that as an ideal of life.
Khaleda noted that he (Prof Ibrahim) had fully engaged his time and energy in human service, particularly for poor people, and elevated his profession to the height of worship.
Health Minister Dr Khandokar Mosharraf Hossain, Social Welfare Minister Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujaheed, The Netherlands Ambassador in Dhaka Kees Beemsterboer, SA
Khaleque MP, BMA President Prof Dr MA Hadi, Secretary General Dr AZM Zahid Hossain, Bangladesh Diabetic Association President Prof Wahiduddin Ahmed and Secretary General Prof AK Azad Khan also spoke at the function.
Ministers, diplomats, MPs, physicians and distinguished personalities were present at the function.
Later, Prime Minister Khaleda laid the foundation stone of Bangladesh Institute of Health Science Hospital at the site.
The Prime Minister said the activities of Diabetic Association has been a successful model of public-private sharing in health sector following effective coordination of government support and individual initiatives.
"The significant side of this model is decentralisation of health service through active participation and leadership of local people," she said.
Khaleda said the present government has given top priority to health service and as a result of that the number of hospitals, hospital beds, physicians and nurses are increasing every year.
She said private organisations, development partners and friendly countries have come up with their supports for the development of health sector. "Healthcare development project is an example of combined efforts of public-private and development partners."
She said the government has provided funds to diabetic associations of Sylhet, Narsingdhi, Bogra, Feni, Faridpur and Jessore districts either by setting up new hospitals or expanding the existing ones.
The government has provided assistance for the expansion and modernisation of Birdem Hospital in Dhaka, she said adding that construction works on 100-bed diabetic hospitals, involving Tk 12 core, are going on in Rajshahi and Barisal.
Khaleda said late president Ziaur Rahman had generously extended support to Bangladesh Diabetic Association, especially to Birdem project, and "We're also continuing that."