Health Minister Sardar Md. Sakhawat Husain on Wednesday said the government currently has no new project or plan to improve services at grassroots healthcare facilities.
“Existing services are being provided uninterruptedly and new initiatives may be undertaken in the future based on necessity,” he said in Parliament.
Responding to a question from BNP lawmaker A.E. Sultan Mahmud Babu of Jamalpur-2, the minister said the government remains committed to strengthening healthcare delivery across the country.
He informed the House that the Prime Minister has decided to upgrade all 50-bed Upazila Health Complexes into 101-bed hospitals, and the ministry has already begun implementing the decision.
The minister outlined the wide range of services currently being provided through Upazila Health Complexes, Union Health and Family Welfare Centres (UH&FWCs) and Community Clinics.
According to him, Upazila Health Complexes provide round-the-clock emergency healthcare services, including trauma management for accident victims, outpatient and inpatient treatment, diagnostic facilities, and maternal and child healthcare services. These facilities also ensure antenatal and postnatal care, safe deliveries and implementation of the Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI).
The complexes play a key role in disease prevention and control by providing treatment and preventive services for communicable diseases such as malaria, dengue, tuberculosis and diarrhoea, while also conducting awareness programmes on non-communicable diseases.
They are also responsible for implementing national health initiatives, including polio eradication campaigns, Vitamin A supplementation programmes and other public health interventions, the minister said.
Family planning services are another major component of healthcare delivery at the upazila level. Health facilities distribute contraceptive pills, condoms, injections and intrauterine devices (IUDs), while providing counselling on family planning and maternal nutrition.
The minister said Upazila Health Complexes also supervise Union Health and Family Welfare Centres and Community Clinics, monitor field-level health workers and prepare health-related reports for submission to the Directorate General of Health Services.
For patients requiring specialised treatment, the facilities operate referral services to district hospitals, medical college hospitals and other specialised healthcare institutions.
The minister further said Union Health and Family Welfare Centres provide maternal and child healthcare, family planning services, immunisation, Vitamin A supplementation, reproductive health services and primary treatment for common illnesses.
Community Clinics, meanwhile, continue to serve as the first point of contact for primary healthcare in rural areas. They offer treatment for common ailments such as fever, cough, diarrhoea and skin diseases, while distributing around 30 to 32 essential medicines free of charge.
The clinics also provide antenatal and postnatal care, child immunisation, nutritional counselling, Vitamin A capsules and iron-folic acid supplements for pregnant women, lactating mothers and adolescent girls.
In addition, Community Clinics conduct health education programmes on sanitation, safe water use and disease prevention, while screening adults for diabetes, hypertension and other non-communicable diseases.
The minister said serious or complicated cases identified at Community Clinics are referred to Upazila Health Complexes, district hospitals or specialised healthcare institutions for advanced treatment.