46 percent people are struggling to meet medical expenses

The poor 20 percent of the country's families cannot enjoy even 20 percent of the government benefits in maternal and child health care. 46 percent of people faced some difficulty in meeting medical expenses.

SDG Action Alliance Bangladesh has suggested increasing the government allocation to the health sector of the country citing the insufficient allocation of the government to meet the needs of the poor population.

These facts were presented in an event entitled 'Civil Society Position Paper on Establishing the Right to Universal Health Care' organized at Sagar Rooney Hall of Dhaka Reporters Unity in Segunbagicha of the capital on Sunday (May 19).

The event was organized by SDG Action Alliance Bangladesh, Global Call to Action Against Poverty and Noakhali Rural Development Society (NRDS).

Abdul Awal, coordinator of SDG Action Alliance Bangladesh and chief executive of NRDS, said, "The health sector is being neglected in the budget due to the continuation of the pre-Covid outbreak. During the pandemic, the picture of the state of disrepair in the health system emerged. But still this sector is not getting the expected attention in the budget. Although the allocation has increased in terms of money, the allocation is not increasing much compared to the budget and gross domestic product (GDP). Bangladesh spends only 1.5 percent of GDP on health, which is much lower than the global average of 5.9 percent. This is a major obstacle in building the government's capacity to ensure quality healthcare for all.

Quoting the World Health Organization, Abdul Awal said, "A Bangladeshi needs to spend 88 dollars a year to get basic health care." But Bangladesh spends $58 per capita on medical care, a large part of which is financed by the citizens themselves. The people of Bangladesh are forced to fund nearly 70 percent of their health expenses themselves.

The SDG Action Alliance conducted a survey of 600 citizens of Noakhali, Dhaka, Chittagong and Barisal in December 2023 on access to healthcare, uptake of the Covid-19 vaccine and inclusion in social protection programs among marginalized communities.

It found that 78.7 percent of people had received at least one dose, while 21.3 percent had received no vaccination. Access rate of marginalized people to government healthcare centers for primary care is 70.5 percent. But many obstacles made it difficult to get the necessary treatment. According to the survey, 46 percent of people faced some difficulty in meeting the medical expenses.