Staff Reporter :
The government has spent Tk 4 lakh per Covid-19 patients admitted to Intensive Care Units (ICU) of hospitals while it spent Tk 1.30 lakh per Covid-19 patient admitted to general wards.
Health Minister Zahid Maleque made the announcement while addressing a seminar at Hotel Sonargoan on Saturday. The Health Ministry’s Health Economics Unit (HEU) organized the seminar to mark Universal Health Coverage Day.
Minister Maleque said the coronavirus situation in the country is still under control thanks to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s exemplary leadership and the efforts of thousands of caregivers.
“Health authorities have provided free medical care for all since the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak. Now we have assessed that the government, on average, has spent Tk 4 lakh per coronavirus patient admitted at ICUs, and Tk 1.30 lakh per patient in general (Covid-19) wards,” the minister added.
He noted other initiatives undertaken by the government in the face of the nationwide coronavirus outbreak, including prompt stockpiling of emergency drugs, scaling up the number of coronavirus testing centers to 120, launching central oxygen supply system in 59 hospitals, and providing telemedicine service to around 2.5 crore people.
The health minister said that thanks to the prompt initiatives, the coronavirus infection rate has been under control and the death rate has reduced. He reaffirmed that the country has not been economically affected, it has become self-sufficient in food.
Minister Maleque stressed on the increase in the health budget, women’s empowerment, and additional manpower recruitment to ensure universal health care for all.
Secretary to Health Services Division, Abdul Mannan; Director General of the Directorate General of Health Services, Abul Bashar Mohammad Khurshid Alam; and Deputy Representative of the World Health Organization (WHO), Bhupinder Aulakh, spoke at the event among others, along with Director General of the Health Economics Unit, Dr Md Shahadat Hossain.
