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Despite an alarming rise in deaths related to non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in Bangladesh, the allocation from the national budget for fighting these diseases is woefully inadequate. To effectively curb the growing prevalence of NCDs, adequate funding must be ensured for this sector in the upcoming budget for the fiscal year 2024-25. These demands were made at a journalists’ workshop titled “Budgetary Allocations to Fight NCDs: A Bangladesh Perspective” held at BMA Bhaban in the capital on Monday, April 29. The workshop was organized by research and advocacy organization PROGGA (Knowledge for Progress) and supported by the Global Health Advocacy Incubator (GHAI). Twenty-eight journalists working in print, television and online media participated in the workshop.
The seminar learned that chronic diseases such as heart disease, stroke, cancer, kidney disease, respiratory diseases, diabetes, hypertension and other chronic diseases are the most common causes of death in Bangladesh, accounting for 70% of the total deaths. However, the budget allocation for the prevention and treatment of chronic diseases is alarmingly low, accounting for only 4.2% of the total health budget.
Speaking at the seminar, Dr. Md. Enamul Haque, Director (Under Secretary) of the Department of Health Economics, said, “The World Health Organization recommends that countries allocate at least 15% of their total budget to the health sector. Considering the reality, the Bangladesh government in its latest strategic investment plan has proposed increasing the budget allocation for the health sector to 7%. However, the health budget has remained below 5% for the past few years. To combat NCDs, there is a need not only to increase allocations but also to improve the efficiency of spending.”
Muhammad Ruhul Quddus, GHAI Bangladesh Country Director, said: “By allocating the necessary funds to ensure that anti-hypertensive medicines are available in community clinics, many lives can be saved and the risk of serious non-communicable diseases such as heart disease and stroke can be reduced to a great extent.”
Journalist and National Press Club Governing Council member Julhas Alam, Anti-Tobacco Media Alliance (ATMA) Convener Mortuza Haider Liton, Anti-Tobacco Media Alliance Co-Convener Mizan Chowdhury and PROGGA Executive Director ABM Zubair attended the seminar as discussants. PROGGA Coordinator Sadia Galiba Prova delivered the keynote address.
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