Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh organized a high-level advocacy event on Universal Health Coverage (UHC) in partnership with World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF and other partner institutions (Suchana Foundation, Chatham House and Whiteboard) on 11th May 2023 under the leadership of Hon. Prime Minister H.E. Sheikh Hasina MP as the chief guest. Former Prime Minister of New Zealand Rtd. Honorable Helen Clark, co-chair of Chatham House Commission for Universal Health Coverage was the special guest for the event.
The purpose of this high-level event was to celebrate Bangladesh’s successes in health and explore opportunities to accelerate progress towards UHC in 2023 and beyond, as well to provide high level political commitment to UHC agenda in Bangladesh.
Under the overall leadership of Dr Bardan Jung Rana, WHO Representative to Bangladesh, the Health systems unit at WHO Country office with support of WHO SEARO and WHO-HQ provided technical assistance to Government of People’s Republic of Bangladesh in collaboration with the UNICEF and other partners in organizing this event.
“Universal Health Coverage (UHC) means that all people have access to the full range of quality health services they need, when and where they need them, without financial hardship. It covers the full continuum of essential health services, from health promotion to prevention, treatment, rehabilitation, and palliative care across the life course.” – WHO
Accelerating UHC can be an effective tool for Bangladesh’s economic development. This will result in boosting workforce productivity, creating employment opportunities in the formal sector, stimulating growth in domestic manufacturing sectors, and reducing costs in the long run. WHO promotes strengthening primary health care as the most feasible and sustainable way to achieve UHC.
The high-level event on UHC at Hotel Intercontinental, Dhaka, Bangladesh featured policy dialogue on UHC involving honorable prime minister of Bangladesh and honorable Ex-prime minister of New Zealand facilitated by Ms Saima Wazed Chairperson, Suchona Foundation & Adviser to DG of WHO on mental Health and Autism. The opening remarks by Dr Md Anwar Hossain Howlader, Secretary, Health Service Division, Ministry of Health, and family welfare, set the momentum on UHC Discussion.
The event was graced by the presence of various Ministers and Parliamentarians, Ms. Gwyn Lewis, UN Resident Coordinator in Bangladesh, Dr. Bardan Jung Rana, WHO Representative to Bangladesh, and Mr. Sheldon Yett, UNICEF Country Representative to Bangladesh. Other participants included senior officials from the Government of Bangladesh, other UN agencies and development partners, academia, private sector, civil society, and representatives from media. Dr. Manoj Jhalani, Director Health systems at WHO SEARO and Dr. Peter Cowley, Senior expert on health finance and service delivery at WHO-HQ also attended the event as technical experts along with other international experts.
During the interactive session between Hon. PM, Sheikh Hasina MP, and Rt Hon Helen Clark, moderated by Ms Saima Wazed, Hon.PM highlighted the Universal Health Coverage related issues and how Bangladesh can overcome those challenges. The interactive session also included questions from the audience to the Hon. Prime Minister.
Hon. Prime Minister reiterated Bangladesh’s commitment to achieve UHC. She further stated that “Ensuring necessary health care to the entire population is our constitutional obligation, and we have been trying to fulfil it since our first day in the government. In addition to what we have already done, we will take additional measures including the ‘public provision of an essential package of health service for all' to accelerate the progress so that we could reach the target by 2030.” Hon. Prime Minister also requested developed nations to come forward to support developing countries like Bangladesh towards achieving UHC.
Honorable Minister, Ministry of Health and Family welfare delivered his speech. Photo credit: WHO/Salma Sultana
Hon’ble Minister, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Zahid Maleque MP, thanked the Hon. PM for her commitment to UHC. The Hon'ble Minister said, "Globally, Bangladesh has been recognized for its country-wide health care delivery network, from the Community clinics to Medical Universities, its universal coverage of child immunization, and its recent success in Covid-19 Management and vaccination. He added Hon'ble Prime Minister is an internationally known proponent of UHC, and we will be able to achieve a UHC under her leadership."
The technical experts are in the discussion in the parallel session, Photo credit: WHO/Salma Sultana
The high-level policy dialogue was followed by technical sessions on (1) Improving access to affordable and quality PHC for UHC chaired by Hon’ble Minister, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Zahid Maleque MP and (2) Health Care Financing for Accelerating Universal Health Coverage chaired by Economic Affairs Adviser to the Hon’ble Prime Minister, Dr Mashiur Rahman. Leading health systems and UHC experts from WHO; Dr Manoj Jhalani, Director - Health Systems, WHO-SEARO and Dr Peter Cowley, Senior Finance and Service Delivery Expert, WHO-HQ contributed significantly as panelists in each of the above-mentioned sessions respectively.
The objective of the technical session was to garner experiences from countries in the region and identify practical recommendations to achieve UHC in Bangladesh.
In session 1, Prof Dr Hasbullah Thabrany, Chief of the Party, ThinkWell, Health Financing Activity, Indonesia, shared the Indonesia UHC model. Later Dr. Manoj Jhalani, Director of Health Systems, WHO SEARO, shared regional countries experience on accelerating UHC through PHC approach. He emphasized on ensuring supply side readiness of the health facilities and harnessing the value of digital transformation as enalbling factors to advance UHC in Bangladesh. Professor MA Faiz, Former Director General of the Directorate General of Health Services, shared the expert opinion over the progress of Bangladesh UHC journey. Key take away message from the session was to enhance efficiency in health service delivery to accelerate progress towards UHC.
WHO HQ and SEARO technical experts receiving the crest from Hon’ble health Minister, Photo credit: WHO/Salma Sultana
In session 2, Dr Ravi Rannan Eliye, Director, IHP, Sri Lanka, shared Srilankan UHC experience. Dr Mariya Khatiwada, Health Financing Specialist, UNICEF Regional Office, shared the best practices on UHC in region. Prof. Ahmed Mustaque Raza Chowdhury, Advisor, Bangladesh Health, Watch, shared Feasible Financing Option for UHC in Bangladesh. Dr Peter Cowley, Senior Finance and Service Delivery Expert, WHO-HQ, shared Global Experience in financing for UHC and how Bangladesh can progress towards UHC. Dr Peter Cowley illustrated the need to adopt appropriate public financial management systems to enable budgets matching with health priorities and population need, as well to expand coverage and improve efficiency through staretgeic purchasing mechanisms. The session concluded with closing remarks by Mr Mashiur Rahman, Economic Affairs Advisor to Prime Minister stating Bangladesh’s capability in achieving UHC using appropriate health financing strategy learning from global and regional experiences.
WHO Team Members, Photo credit: External photographer
Hon’ble Minister, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Zahid Maleque MP honored all technical experts with the crest and closed the event with a positive note towards government’s commitment towards achieving UHC.WHO Country Office, had a productive discussion with Dr Manoj Jhalani, Director, Health Systems, WHO SEARO, and Dr Peter Cowley, Senior Finance and Service Delivery Expert, WHO-HQ on global movement on UHC and progress across regions.Discussions outlined strategic options on how WHO country office can support Government of Bangladesh in advancing UHC in Bangladesh. For more information about the web story please contact [email protected]