Bangladesh redesigning primary healthcare system with a focus on prevention: Zubaida

Ziaur Rahman Foundation Vice-President and eminent physician Dr Zubaida Rahman on Friday said Bangladesh was redesigning its primary healthcare system around prevention, early identification and continuity of care, with a stronger frontline workforce and professional midwives at the centre of the transformation.

"Our vision of a Healthy Bangladesh is to move from a treatment-centered system to one that emphasizes prevention, early identification and continuity of care, with services closer to people's homes," she said.

Addressing a high-level side event titled "From Commitment to Action: Integrating Midwifery into Primary Health Care to End Preventable Maternal and Newborn Deaths" at the United Nations headquarters here, Zubaida outlined Bangladesh's ongoing and planned initiatives to transform its Primary Health Care (PHC) system.

Bangladesh, she said, is working towards an integrated PHC network extending to rural unions and urban wards, supported by a stronger frontline workforce and digital health. "Women and children are at the center of this transformation," she said.

Zubaida said recruitment of 25,000 professional midwives has already begun, stressing that the initiative is aimed not merely at increasing their number but at integrating them into multidisciplinary PHC teams.

"Our objective is not simply to increase their numbers. We want to integrate them into multidisciplinary PHC teams and provide continuity of care from preconception and pregnancy through childbirth, postnatal and newborn care," she said.

The PHC model, she said, presented at the discussion places midwives at the centre of the maternal healthcare journey and seeks to move Bangladesh's health system from fragmented services to an integrated and accountable platform.

The platform will connect households and communities with primary healthcare facilities and, when necessary, with secondary, tertiary and specialised care through a functioning referral system, Zubaida said.

She said midwife-led PHC can advance three priorities for Bangladesh- better access, stronger financial protection and better value in healthcare.

"It can bring essential care closer to women, reduce unnecessary interventions and out-of-pocket expenditure, and ensure respectful care at the right place and at the right time," she said.

She said Bangladesh's approach reflects its broader effort to put people at the centre of development and build a modern health system around prevention, dignity and access.

The vision, she said, is to ensure that women receive continuous care throughout the maternal journey rather than accessing fragmented services at different stages.

"Every woman should have access to a skilled professional midwife as part of her PHC team, close to where she lives," she said, drawing the ambition that guided the discussion.

Zubaida said the approach is also intended to provide a model for countries to learn from one another while developing solutions suited to their respective health systems.

"Professional midwives save lives. Our task now is to build health systems that enable them to do so effectively, equitably and sustainably," she said.

Bangladesh, she said, looks forward to continuing its exchange with governments, UN agencies, development partners and the global health community to turn the dialogue into practical action.

The discussion brought together health ministers and senior representatives from Sierra Leone, Nepal, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines and other countries, along with UN agencies, development partners, professional organisations, civil society and members of the global health community.

The event was organised with partnership from the Government of Sweden and UNFPA.