Free treatment of 50 diseases for the poor:Daily Sun

  The government is going to ensure free of cost treatment of 50 diseases for the poor people of the country. To this end the government has already worked out a special plan styled as “National Social Health Protection Scheme” which will make provision for health insurance of poor people. Under this scheme all people, rich and poor, will gradually be brought under the health insurance scheme. The
fixed premium of this insurance will have to be paid as per the rate of income. However, the premium of the poor and the destitute will be provided from the special fund of the government. The poor people will get treatment of 50 diseases free of cost from local hospitals. However, treatment of complicated diseases like cancer will remain outside of it. This has been stated in a report of Kaler Kantho on Sunday. Quoting sources at health and family welfare ministry the report said, work has already started as part of the move with a view to ensuring universal health care in the country. The necessary law relating to the scheme is at the drafting stage. A law will be enacted after the completion of the process in phases. It may be mentioned here that around 20 percent people of our country are becoming penniless by meeting the medical expenses while 64 per cent people, irrespective of rich and poor, are being compelled to “purchase” medical treatment spending money from their own pockets. Apart from spending one’s hard earned cash, people often become obliged to sale homestead, crop lands, poultry and livestock, furniture and utensils or even take loan from others to put up with treatment costs. Although the state is committed Constitutionally to ensure health care facilities for the people, in reality the government so far has spent only 26 percent of the cost for health care of it’s citizens. Rest eight percent comes from the donors, only one percent is derived from so loudly advertised private and NGO sectors. It is an open secret that health sector is most neglected in Bangladesh. The per capita budgetary allocation for medicare of the citizens is the lowest in Bangladesh among the SAARC countries. It is against this dismal backdrop that the government is going to implement a pro-people scheme to ensure medicare for the poor. This is very much keeping in line with the spirit of Liberation War and the constitution of the country. Our constitution guarantees five fundamental rights for the people namely food, clothing, housing, education and health. These rights of the people are only fulfilled partly, specially public health is neglected most. So, the new scheme of the government, when implemented will help the poor people enormously. In view of this, the sooner the scheme is implement the better.