Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has been invited to address the United Nations General Assembly next month for Bangladesh’s ‘best performance’ in the health sector.
Health Secretary MN Neazuddin addressing 6,151 new doctors on Thursday said the UN has invited Hasina because Bangladesh’s health sector had done so well.
“Prime Minister was invited to speak in view of our ‘ best contribution’ in the health sector in the world,” he said.
The secretary cited Bangladesh’s earlier achievements that include MDG 4 award for cutting under-5 child deaths, and British medical journal ‘The Lancet’ series on Bangladesh where it termed “striking health success”.
The Lancet last year said the pace of growth of Bangladesh’s health sector was most ‘striking’ among South Asian countries despite Dhaka spending less on this sector than several neighbouring countries.
The influential journal said the country “now has the longest life expectancy, the lowest total fertility rate, and the lowest infant and under-5 mortality rates in south Asia”.
In an article ‘Health transcends poverty in Bangladesh’, researchers identified several factors that put the country on track to achieve the health-related Millennium Development Goals.
Researchers were particularly impressed with Bangladesh’s achievement as they pointed out “health systems are complex and no simple recipe exists for success”.
It attributed the success in cutting mortalities as well as the rate of childbirths to the high-level political commitment to health since independence, the ability to innovate and adapt to resource limitations, transport infrastructure, female empowerment and education.
The Prime Minister in her earlier term -2009 to 2013-also received UN South-South award for introducing e-health as part of her digital Bangladesh slogan.
