The poor have no easy access to costly primary healthcare

The government has almost been asked every year by health experts to increase primary healthcare spending by at least an additional one per cent of the GDP which can widen the coverage of health facilities for the ultra-poor to protect them from medical hazards. But unfortunately, the government seems nonchalant to take public health with due importance. As per a report published in a newspaper recently, people still have to pay out-of-pocket for costly medicines and treatment despite the authority concerned claiming tremendous success in the health sector.
In fact, public investment in primary healthcare close to home is the key to extending coverage and saving lives that is achievable and affordable for Bangladesh, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO). It is quite shocking to see the increasing number of people who are at risk of poverty due to health spending.
Understandingly, we are at a crossroads in the health sector in which we see declining marginal returns on investment with new technologies that are expensive but don’t necessarily bring a lot of health benefits. Globally about 925 million people spend more than 10 per cent of their household income on healthcare, including 200 million people who spend more than 25 per cent. Primary health care must cover access to essential drugs including for diseases such as diabetes and malaria. Because we know that the cost of essential drugs is a key driver of catastrophic out-of-pocket costs.
Investments in health and the design of health financing policies should be addressed in terms of the interaction between health and the economy. Public spending on health care is central to universal health coverage, but there is no clear trend of government priority for healthcare in Bangladesh. The country spends less on healthcare than other countries in South Asia and, indeed, less than most countries in the world.
We should take it with due importance that to smoothen our ways to achieve the status of a developed nation by 2041, it is not possible without a vow to ensure universal health coverage by 2032.