Say speakers; new platform launched

Advocacy with strategic priorities is urgent to mitigate the issues pertaining to the country's healthcare sector, said experts at a programme yesterday.

The event, titled "Bangladesh Road to UHC: Urgency of a strategic big-push", was organised by PPRC, a research institute, at the CIRDAP auditorium in Dhaka.

At the event, UHC Forum, a newly-formed platform led by health-focused professionals and activists, was launched with the motto of "Empowering Progress, Engaging Communities, Transforming Health".

The new think-tank will work on policymaking and strategic support to the government for the healthcare sector.

"The country's healthcare sector has loopholes regarding community engagement, real-time data, mixed-skill, and politically intelligent reform. These gaps led us to build the UHC Forum," said PPRC executive chairman Prof Hossain Zillur Rahman, also the forum's convener.

"Here, we will focus on five particular priorities -- non-communicable diseases, urban primary healthcare, economic burden caused by health, and community engagement for public health, and provide policymaking support to the government in this regard to ensure inclusive and universal healthcare for all," he said.

Public health expert Abu Jamil Faisel, former health secretary Md Ashadul Islam, and Prof Syed Abdul Hamid of the Institute of Health Economics, also spoke.