Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Saturday urged the physicians to gain people’s confidence about the country’s medical services so that they feel discouraged to go abroad for medical treatment.
“Only providing medical treatment is not good enough for people, but confidence about medical services has to be built so that they don’t feel encouraged to go abroad,” she said.
The Prime Minister said this while inaugurating the 26th Annual Conference Association of Thoracic & Cardiovascular Surgeons of Asia at a city hotel.
Medical treatment is not only a profession but also a great commitment, she added.
“You’ll have become specialists by dint of your talents and also hard work. The mentality of providing services will have to be crated within your. You have to serve every patient as your family member,” she said.
The Prime Minister said her government has been ensuring all facilities for higher education and building specialised hospitals one after another. “You should acquire knowledge availing of all these facilities and serve people best.”
She urged the physicians to put special emphasis on research apart from providing medical treatment and take initiatives to make people aware on measures to prevent cardiovascular diseases.
The Prime Minister said Bangladesh has achieved a tremendous success in cardiovascular surgery over the last three decades. “In Bangladesh, the first open-heart surgery was conducted in 1981.”
The number of cardiovascular operations carried out in the country in 1997 was about 500. In 2015, some 10,000 operations were carried out in 22 different hospitals, she said, adding that it proves that the skill and quality of services have increased substantially. In the past, many people used to go abroad for medical treatment but now the number has decreased, she added.
Hasina said cardiovascular surgeries are being done only in National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases and Chittagong Medical College and Hospital.
She mentioned that Dhaka Medical College Hospital, Sir Salimullah Medical College Hospital and Shaheed Sheikh Abu Naser Hospital in Khulna are going to start the hear-related surgeries soon.
But, she said, the death rate in cardiovascular diseases will not be reduced only by increasing the medical facilities. “We’ll have to conduct research on why so many people are getting affected by cardiovascular diseases and how we can remain immune from the diseases.”
The Prime Minister said her government is planning to establish two more medical universities in Rajshahi and Chittagong.
Presided over by eminent Cardiac surgeon Prof Dr Ashit Baran Adhikary, the function was addressed, among others, by Health Minister Mohammad Nasim, President of ATCSA Dr Gerardo S Manzo and Secretary General Prof Kamrul Hassan.
