Medical education
The present government is committed to providing medical service to people in rural areas, especially in every union area. The commitment is appreciable. Modern medical service is a far cry for the majority people who live in rural Bangladesh. Four decades have passed but the governments who administered the country could not arrange medical service to villages, though the villages are the vital units of Bangladesh. To provide medical services three basic factors are to be arranged, namely, service of professional medical manpower, pharmaceutical medicine and medical equipment and instrument.
There is acute shortage of physicians, paramedics and managerial staff for hospitals and clinics. Physicians used to manage the medical establishments in Bangladesh which is not pragmatic today. Managing medical hospital, clinic etcetera require professional knowledgeable and experienced managerial staff. Simply, it is not the job of doctors.
Bangladesh needs a huge number of under graduate medical physicians to serve rural Bangladesh. But where will they get the required medical education? Indeed the graduate and post graduate doctors are not willing to provide their services in rural Bangladesh as civic facilities are not available in rural areas and there is virtually no scope of earning much money by private practice, which is the prime target of most of the doctors. Posts are to be created in health service centres in unions and upazilas.
Most of the medicines used and innovated in present day world are being produced over here in factories in Bangladesh under multinational, private and government owned factories. There is enormous scope of development in this area. Bangladesh is progressing fast in this field as well.
Huge equipment and instrument have to be imported from abroad as these are indispensable for modern way of medical treatment. At the same time, operator of those equipment and instrument is another difficulty. Trained manpower is needed to do the job. Servicing and maintenance of the medical equipment and instrument also need support of technical hands.
However, the Bangladesh government needs to expand education facility in the medical sector like under graduate medical course (LMF), paramedic courses, technical education for medical equipment and instrument maintenance. In every administrative district one medical collage is to be set up to impart under graduate course like LMF. One medical collage is to be set up in each division, which will be dedicated to imparting graduate course (MBBS) to LMF passed candidates who will be willing to have higher education. At least a dozen paramedic institutions have to be set up in different regions to educate people who will aid the physicians to render their medical service.
It is true that a huge amount of money will be needed to attain these goals. Bangladesh has lost 38 years; it cannot afford wasting further time. It is high time the government looks at the welfare of the majority of common people as it is a democratic country and has achieved independence through active participation of poor people. Developing manpower in heath sub-sector will also facilitate manpower export abroad which ultimately will help to reduce unemployment.
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