The government has reduced coronavirus test fees by 50 percent from Tk 200 to Tk 100 for state-run hospitals.
Sample collection from home for the test will cost Tk 300 instead of Tk 500 previously in government hospitals, Health Minister Zahid Maleque told reporters on Wednesday.
Many people from the low-income group could not afford the original fees and felt discouraged from taking the test, according to the minister.
The fees were subsequently revised down in line with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s instructions, he said.
“We hope that it will trigger an increase in the number of tests. We always want there to be more testing so that the people who are infected can be identified.”
“But the amount of testing did not rise as we’d hoped, because of the costs.”
The new fee will be applicable soon, according to Maleque. The proposal has been approved and a circular will be issued within the next two or three days, he said.
Source: bdnews24.com
