Prime Minister Tarique Rahman on Monday directed the authorities concerned to take necessary measures to ensure easier access to better healthcare services for the marginalised people.

During a meeting with senior officials at the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare at the Secretariat on Monday, he also instructed for ensuring that doctors are more sincere and dedicated in providing treatment for patients.

At the outset of the meeting, Tarique Rahman sought a detailed briefing from the health minister, state minister, secretary and other senior officials on the achievements made in the health sector during the five months since the current government assumed office.

The officials of the ministry informed him that the previous governments brought the health sector to the brink of collapse, making access to proper healthcare services difficult for the marginalised people. The health ministry has been working relentlessly to overcome the situation, they said.

Referring to frequent reports and complaints in the media and on social media that patients at the upazila level often fail to receive satisfactory treatment despite the presence of doctors, the Prime Minister directed the authorities to take punitive and other necessary actions against the negligence by physicians in performing their duties.

He said the healthcare services must be made more accessible for rural people under any circumstances. "Satisfactory treatment and adequate medicines must be ensured for them. Everyone should be able to receive medical care at government hospitals easily without any suffering,” he said.

Tarique Rahman said the public hospitals should become the primary and most reliable destination of healthcare services for them so that they need not to go anywhere to receive the medical treatment.

About kidney diseases, he announced plans to establish 50-bed dialysis centres at the district level to reduce the suffering faced by kidney patients.

The existing 10-bed district-level dialysis centres will be expanded to 50 beds, the Prime Minister said.

He said the dialysis centres will be established in upazilas across the country in phases over the next three years.

Tarique Rahman instructed the ministry to ensure the development of skilled manpower and provide the necessary logistic support for the successful implementation of the dialysis centre programme.

During the meeting, the current government’s initiative to upgrade Upazila Health Complexes from 51 beds to 101-bed facilities and the manpower requirements and infrastructure needed for the expansion of the health complexes were also discussed.

Engineers from the Public Works Department presented architectural designs and other technical aspects of the proposed programmes.

Health and Family Welfare Minister Sardar Md Sakhawat Husain, State Minister Dr MA Muhit and top officials from the ministry, Bangladesh Medical University, Dhaka Medical College Hospital and different other public hospitals in the capital were present.