Insufficient allocation for primary healthcare

As Bangladesh spends less on health care than other countries in South Asia do and, indeed, less than most countries in the world, the World Health Organisation (WHO) asked the government to increase primary health care spending by at least an additional one per cent of their gross domestic product to widen coverage and stop impoverishing patients. Despite some progress, more people in Bangladesh often have to pay out-of-pocket for costly medicines and treatment. Thus, public investment in primary health care close to home is the key to extending coverage and saving lives that is achievable and affordable for Bangladesh according to the WHO. It is quite shocking to see the increasing number of people who are at risk of poverty due to health spending.
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. 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 always get 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.
Though the public spending on health care is central to the universal health coverage, there is no clear trend of government priority for health care in Bangladesh. Investments in health and the design of health financing policies should be addressed in terms of the interaction between health and the economy. Only a healthy nation can smoothen our ways to achieve the status of developed nation by 2041. Therefore, we should make a vow to attain the ‘Health for All’ policy to ensure universal health coverage by 2032.