The Centre of Excellence for Universal Health Coverage (CoE-UHC) at the James P Grant School of Public Health (JPGSPH), BRAC University organized a dialogue to discuss the current momentum and initiatives for facilitating Universal Health Coverage (UHC) in Bangladesh on Saturday, May 28, 2016 at BRAC Inn.
The movement towards achieving UHC is gaining momentum in Bangladesh following its endorsement as one of the targets of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In order to mobilize and consolidate stakeholder efforts in both public and private sectors in Bangladesh, CoE-UHC brought key stakeholders and development partners together to contribute on the knowledge on how to proceed further with UHC in Bangladesh, and share their respective initiatives on UHC so that duplication and overlapping can be minimized to ensure maximum impact on public health.
Prof Syed Masud Ahmed, Director, Universal Health Coverage delivered the opening remarks and briefly highlighted the objective of the dialogue on UHC. Five panelists presented their views on the current scenario of implementing universal health coverage. Dr Timothy Evans, Senior Director, Health Nutrition and Population Global Practice at World Bank Group spoke on the current global scenario of UHC in context of lower middle income countries. He added that public financing is very important to ensure UHC as well as Bangladesh should consider including private financing to achieve UHC. Current national initiatives on UHC in Bangladesh was explained by Md. Ashadul Islam, DG, HEU, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said that achieving UHC in Bangladesh is becoming easier as the country has gained the status of middle income country, and the scope of work for UHC is becoming wider day by day because of our Prime Minister's kind support. Dr Hossain Zillur Rahman, Executive Director, Power and Participation Research Centre and ex-adviser to the Caretaker Government of Bangladesh, spoke about UHC from the non-health perspective. Dr Sukumar Sarker, Senior Technical and Policy Advisor, USAID, share dinitiatives on UHC taken by USAID in Bangladesh.Shehrin Shaila Mahmood, Assistant Scientist, Health Systems and Population Studies Division, icddr,b explained Role of insurance in advancing UHC agenda in Bangladesh. Dr Ahmed Mushtaque Raza Chowdhury, Advisor to Chairperson, BRAC, also graced the event with his presence. Prof Malabika Sarker, Director of Research of the same institution, facilitated the whole dialogue by conveying the current UHC scenario in context of SDGs in Bangladesh and where Bangladesh wants to proceed.