Govt launches insurance for people with disabilities

For the first time in the country, people with disabilities are being brought under health insurance. 

The name of the insurance policy is Bangabandhu Suraksha Bima for Persons of Disabilities.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina virtually opened the policy from her official residence Gono Bhaban today through a programme to observe National Insurance Day.

Initially, four types of disabilities such as autism, down syndrome, intellectual disability and cerebral palsy will be treated at low cost.

Initially it will be implemented through Neuro-Developmental Disabilities Protection Trust (NDDPT) and Sadharan Bima Corporation (SBC), but later it will be implemented through all private non-life insurance companies.

Recently a memorandum of understanding (MoU) has been signed between the NDDPT and Sadharan Bima to implement the initiative.

The initiative has been piloted for the disabled in Dhaka city, Dhaka district and Sylhet district.

Chairman of Insurance Development and Regulatory Authority M Mosharraf Hossain and Bangladesh Insurance Association President Sheikh Kabir Hossain also spoke at the programme organised in Dhaka's Bangabandhu International Conference Centre.