Health and Family Welfare Minister Sardar Md Sakhawat Hossain on Monday alleged that poorly planned medical equipment imported during the previous government is ending up in scrap shops while remaining unused in their original packaging, blaming years of mismanagement and corruption for the country's fragile healthcare system.

"The health sector had been severely neglected over the past 17 years due to authoritarian rule, misgovernance, corruption and disregard for public welfare,” the Minister said while speaking in parliament during the question and answer session replying to a supplementary question from Jamaat-e-Islami reserved seat MP Sabikun Nahar.

"Unplanned medical equipment was imported, much of which is now being sent to scrap shops while still packed. Two radiotherapy machines, each costing Tk 18 crore, have been lying unused in Khulna and Faridpur because they were imported without ensuring the necessary safety infrastructure," he said.

The minister also said X-ray machines had been installed at several facilities without recruiting technicians, while laboratory equipment had been procured despite the absence of trained laboratory personnel.

Responding to concerns raised by the MP over prolonged shortages of doctors and healthcare staff at Muktagacha Upazila Health Complex in Mymensingh, Sakhawat said the government had inherited a deeply dysfunctional health system.

He alleged that recruitment had remained largely stalled over the past 17 years, while recruitment advertisements had often included restrictive conditions designed to favour specific candidates, resulting in numerous legal challenges.

The minister said many officials had been transferred through deputation, with some later leaving the country. He added that the government had identified several such cases, terminated some appointments and recalled doctors to their previous workplaces.

Sakhawat said the government plans to recruit 5,000 doctors through a special Bangladesh Civil Service (BCS) examination. He also urged all lawmakers to visit hospitals in their constituencies to monitor services, saying the government is working to improve every public hospital.