No clear directive on utilizing the health budget: Experts

Reza Mahmud :
Public health experts expressed fear over mishandling the allocation of Tk 32,731 crore for the health ministry and the block allocation of Tk 10,000 crore for meeting emergency requirement of Covid-19 pandemic.
The Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal on Thursday unveiled that allocation plan in his proposed budget for the next fiscal year (2021-22).
Experts said that the allocation has not brought any new hope as the health ministry has previous record of lack of efficiency of using the allotment properly.
“The Ministry of Health has a history of lack of efficiency and management capacity to utilise whatever budget is allocated to them,” Professor Dr. M. Muzaherul Huq, former Advisor of the World Health Organisation told The New Nation on Friday.
“Moreover there are corruptions, pilferage and wastage of funds,” the Professor said.
He also said that Bangladesh is still having the lowest allocation in health sector among SAARC countries.
He said that there is no clear directive of how the allotment would be utilized.
About the block allocation on emergency Covid requirement, the expert said the government must have to prioritise where to spend and how to spend it.
“It is better to have a strategic plan for the amount allocated for emergency use on Covid-19,” he said.
When contacted, Dr. Lenin Chowdhury, a Public Health Expert, told The New Nation on Friday, “There is no new hope over the proposed allocations on the health sector, because there is no good experience in previous year on this matter.”
“A lot of allocation had remained unused when huge numbers of Covid-19 patients failed to get treatment in hospitals,” Dr. Lenin Chowdhury said.
He also said allocation for health sector in the budget is not sufficient for much needed development in the sector.
The health expert said the government has not renovated the health ministry and did not make it efficient before allotting this money which creates anxious of mishandling the allocations again.
Regarding vaccination plan, the both health experts expressed their apprehension that it may take huge time to achieve herd immunity.
“If the country wants to get herd immunity, it has to vaccinate 80 pc of its population. That means it has to be inoculated about 13 crore people. Inoculating only 25 lakh people each month needed huge time to attain the goal,” Dr. Lenin Chowdhury said.
He suggests preparing clear plan on vaccination.
Professor Dr. Muzaherul Huq said, “The sooner we achieve herd immunity our focus then be more on our industrial and other activities.”
“Our educational activities are closed, we must open our academic activities too,” he said.
“We must expedite how we can acquire the vaccine from outsource as well as we must go for production with technology transfer,” the professor said.