Staff Reporter :
Health and Family Welfare Adviser Nurjahan Begum has announced that 3,500 doctors and 3,500 nurses will be recruited soon.
She made the statement on Friday during a views-exchange meeting with the Board of Directors and departmental heads of Chattogram Maa-O-Shishu and General Hospital Medical College.
Nurjahan Begum said, “Our goal is that ordinary people receive quality healthcare. And to produce quality doctors, we must build quality medical institutions. Alongside producing skilled doctors, these institutions must also create compassionate doctors.”
Announcing the recruitment of 3,500 doctors and 3,500 nurses, she added, “We will not compromise on quality in healthcare under any circumstances.”
The adviser said, “Even after so many years of independence, no major specialized hospital has been established outside Dhaka. Eye, neuro, orthopedics-everything remains Dhaka-centric. Yet, as a major city, Chattogram should have had such national institutions. Everyone knows why that has not happened.”
She further said, “Hospitals like Chattogram Medical and General Hospital, as well as other government hospitals across the country, suffer from shortages of doctors, nurses, medical equipment, and modern labs.
Facilities are inadequate. Only in the public sector, there is a shortage of about 10,000 doctors and more than 12,000 nurses. While some medicines are provided free of charge in government hospitals, many medicines and lab facilities are still not available free for patients.
This is shameful. The hopeful news is that 3,500 doctors and 3,500 nurses will soon be recruited, which will significantly ease the shortage.”
The health adviser added, “Recently, a Japanese team visited me. They want to recruit nurses and caregivers from us. For this, they will arrange technical training in our hospitals. Japan will handle everything-we will just provide support.
They will train nurses and caregivers for one year up to Level 3, and then take them to Japan. Although no final decision has been made yet, they will formally place the proposal. They will take both male and female caregivers in equal proportion.”
She said, “The biggest obstacle in nurse recruitment is language. That’s why nurses will be taught English properly, along with Japanese.”
She added, “Today I visited the proposed site for Islami Bank Hospital in Patenga. Discussions were held with the hospital authority regarding providing training for these nurses and caregivers there, and it may be possible to conduct the training. I have also advised Maa-O-Shishu Hospital to avail this opportunity.”
The adviser said, “We currently have 37 medical institutions in the public sector and 67 in the private sector. But many of these institutions are not up to standard.
They lack necessary equipment, labs, and qualified faculty. As a result, they are unable to produce skilled doctors. But the government will not compromise on quality. That is why we are preparing a matrix for both public and private institutions.
Those that fall below the matrix will have their admissions suspended, and students will be merged into other institutions. If those institutions still fail to achieve the required quality, they will be permanently closed. Because we will not compromise on quality in healthcare under any circumstances.”
Calling Chattogram Maa-O-Shishu Hospital a very old institution, she said, “Even after so many years, this institution has failed to achieve financial sustainability, which is not a positive matter. Every institution must stand on its own feet-dependence on others is not sustainable.”
She advised the institution to take necessary measures to achieve financial self-sufficiency.
Adviser Nurjahan Begum also said, “Currently, there is a serious lack of honesty in our lives. This lack is not only in financial matters but also in work, service, time, income, and other areas. Because honesty is missing, we have become intolerant, society has become unstable, and crime has increased among us.
The recent incident at Chattogram University is proof of our intolerance. To overcome this, we must do more work that benefits people, especially the poor.”
The meeting was chaired by the hospital’s Board President Syed Morshed Hossain. Among others present were Ministry Joint Secretary Dr. Manjurul Islam, Divisional Health Director Dr. Sheikh Fazle Rabbi, Civil Surgeon Dr. Jahangir Alam, hospital’s Vice President Dr. Kamrun Nahar Dastagir, Abdul Mannan Rana, Joint Secretary Zahedul Hasan, donor member Engineer Javed Afsar Chowdhury, and departmental heads.
Later, the adviser visited several wards and the emergency service center of the hospital. In the morning, she visited the proposed hospital construction site in Patenga.
