Criticising the movement by the opposition BNP to topple the government of Bangladesh, Minister for Health and Family Planning Zahid Maleque on Saturday (January 28, 2023) said a party left without a leader has no chance of coming to power. “First get a leader and then come to politics,” he said. Maleque said this while addressing at the inaugural function of a newly-built building and prize giving ceremony of a sports competition at Jagir High School in Sadar upazila of Munshiganj, as the chief guest. Urging the BNP to join the next national election expected to be held early next year, he said there is no chance to come to power by the backdoor. Read more: 'Only way to oust government is through election' “Seek the vote of people joining the election, go to the power once people take you (BNP) to the power through voting, otherwise not,” he said.     Addressing the developments carried out by Prime Minister Shiekh Hasina, the health minister said that she must be brought to power again for the development of the country.   Advising students to study attentively, he said a good human being without education and dreams does not materialise. With the school governing committee president Md Shamim Miah in the chair, Deputy Commissioner Muhammad Abdul Latif and Municipality Mayor Md Ramjan Ali among others spoke at the event. Read More: 10-point Demand: BNP marches from Badda to Malibagh

Bangladesh's Health and Family Welfare Minister Zahid Maleque on Sunday (January 08, 2023) said there are no unauthorised clinics operating in the capital. The minister made the comment while responding to a tabled question of AL MP Habib Hasan. He said that if an unauthorised private clinic is found, necessary measures are taken as per the rules, including suspending the operation of the clinic by operating a mobile court with the help of law enforcement agencies. Also Read: Review of mass media employees bill gets another 60-day extension In response to the question from ruling Awami Leaague MP M. Abdul Latif, the health minister said that the process of starting the geriatric department for the treatment of the elderly in the medical college hospitals of the divisional cities across the country has started. Activities will start soon to provide modern medical care to patients aged 65 years and above at this department, he said. In response to AL MP Habib Hasan's question, the health minister said that the number of approved private hospitals and clinics in Dhaka city is 484. Read More: Policies must to stop misuse, overuse of antibiotics: Health Minister In reply to another question from AL MP Anwarul Abedin Khan, Zahid Maleque said that the government has a plan to increase the number of beds in all upazila health complexes in the country. He said that upgradation of upazila hospital from 31 to 50 beds is ongoing. Already five upazila health complexes have been upgraded to 100 beds. The government plans to upgrade all the 50-bed upazila hospitals to 100 beds as per requirement in phases, he said. Read More: “Won’t allow anyone to do business in the name of healthcare.” In response to the question of Didarul Alam, the minister said that the government has taken up the project of establishing one full-fledged cancer hospital at each divisional city where it will be possible to ensure the diagnosis and treatment of cancer patients of all ages including children.

Health Minister Zahid Maleque has said that the United Nations (UN) has urged its member states to formulate policies and laws so that excessive use of antibiotics can be prevented. The minister revealed the information during an exclusive interview with UNB, held at the Lotte New York Palace Hotel, on Sunday. During the interview, the health minister informed that the issue of antibiotics use received special focus during the 77th session of United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). Read: Bangladesh makes progress in efforts to locally produce Covid-19 vaccines: Health Minister “This year, UNGA held three sessions on health, in which I had participated. The antibiotics issue, particularly resistance to antibiotics, was widely discussed during these sessions. Countries present during the sessions expressed great concern over the fact that people all over the world were often using antibiotics without prescriptions, and it was discovered that people from low and middle income countries were using antibiotics more than people from rich countries,” Zahid Maleque said. The minister added that one of the reasons why antibiotics use is so widespread is because a lot of medicines are sold over-the-counter. “Anyone can buy antibiotic medicine from the medicine stores directly, without showing any prescription. People are developing antibiotic resistance due to such overuse, which means antibiotics can’t cure the illness for which it is consumed. As a result, many people are dying around the world not from sickness, but from overusing drugs,” the minister commented. Read: First dose of Covid-19 vaccine won’t be administered after Oct 3: Health Minister Replying to a question, the minister said that Bangladesh’s healthcare system was praised during the UN session. “Our success in Covid-19 management has been lauded by all. Besides, the medicines we produce and export were also acclaimed. We screened a documentary in which we have highlighted our achievements in the health sector, which was well received. All in all, the response has been mostly positive,” Zahid Maleque said. Terming antibiotic resistance as a terrifying phenomenon, he added that the UN has emphasized the need for inventing new antibiotics that are more effective than the existing ones. Read “Won’t allow anyone to do business in the name of healthcare” “At the UN session, member states have been urged to provide healthcare services in proper ways. They have also been asked to ensure that no one can avail medicine like antibiotics without prescriptions. Most importantly, the countries present at the session have pledged to make sure that everyone gets treated by an expert doctor, and doesn’t consume drugs without sufficient reason,” the minister concluded.

Health Minister Zahid Maleque has said that the ongoing drive against illegal healthcare facilities in Bangladesh will continue so that no one can do business with peoples’ lives. The minister said this after visiting Rajshahi Sadar Hospital on Thursday (September 15, 2022) morning. “We won’t let any healthcare facility operate if they don’t provide services in a proper way,” the Minister said. Also read: Health minister places icddr,b bill in Parliament Replying to a question, Zahid added that those healthcare facilities which have been closed will remain so until they use proper medical accessories and manpower. “According to the government’s rule, no healthcare facility can operate without licenses. Till now, we’ve closed down around 2,000 hospitals and clinics due to not having licenses. We have some conditions that the healthcare facilities will have to follow if they want to continue their operation,” the minister added. About Rajshahi Sadar Hospital, Zahid said that he has found a shortage of manpower there and will address the issues through outsourcing and recruitment. Also read: Pharmacies in Dhaka to remain open all day: Health Minister Besides, the minister has also assured of upward expansion of the hospital building so that the hospital can accommodate a large number of patients.

The rate of normal birth delivery in the country is 69 percent, while the rate of cesarean delivery is 39 percent, Health Minister Zahid Maleque told parliament on Monday. He said this replying to a scripted question from Jatiya Party's Rustum Ali Faraji MP. The minister said an action plan titled “Promotion of Normal Vaginal Delivery, Prevention of Unnecessary Cesarean Section and Creating Awareness about Necessity and Justification of Cesarean Section" is under implementation” in order to increase the rate of normal delivery and reduce the caesarean section births.  Read: Speaker releases fry in Sangsad Bhaban Lake The action plan includes strengthening of regulatory framework, strengthening health management, capacity building of service providers through various trainings, and ensuring quality in and of delivery services.The  posting of doctors at district and upazila levels, ensuring round-the-clock emergency and maternity services through providing necessary equipment, he said, in fact improving.  The minister said the action plan also includes strengthening of services and deputation of midwives at the district upazila level, campaign activities to ensure at least four antenatal services, through which pregnant mothers are informed about the positive aspects of normal delivery and unnecessary caesarean sections. To ensure antenatal care for expectant mothers, house-to-house mother gatherings are being held with dignitaries of society routinely . In addition, various monitoring activities are underway to increase social security programs and reduce caesarean section rates, the minister added. 

Health Minister Zahid Maleque on Monday said the government will launch another ‘Covid-19 vaccination campaign’ aiming to vaccinate 75 lakh people with second dose and booster dose on Tuesday. The campaign will be launched in all government medical hospitals, specialized hospitals district and Sadar hospitals and upazila health complexes simultaneously, he said at a press briefing held at Mohakhali Directorate General of Health Services DGHS). The heath authoritieshave prepared 16,181 vaccination centers across the country to launch the campaign successfully, he said. Also read: Bangladesh gets another 4 mn doses of COVID-19 vaccine from US Besides, a total of 33,246 health workers and 49,869 volunteers will work during the campaign, he added. Those who received the second dose four months ago will get the booster dose, said Maleque. So far, a total of 76.05 per cent people have  received the first dose while 70.3 per cent second dose and 17.9  per cent people received the 3rd dose across the country, said the minister. Currently, 2.78 crore doses of different vaccines against Covid are in stock now, he said. About bringing 5-11 years old children under vaccination programme, Maleque said the vaccination programme will start soon. The government has taken all necessary steps in this regard and the children should complete their registration through ‘Surokkha app’, he said. “The children will be given Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine. For that a digital birth registration certificate will be needed,” he said. Also read: 2.4 million Dhaka residents to receive oral cholera vaccine in one week The minister also urged the parents to complete their birth registration online.

A total of 140 medical teams are providing medical treatment to flood-hit people in Sylhet district, said Health Minister Zahid Maleque on Monday. The health department, he said, is ready to provide medical assistance to the flood victims as the water has started receding, he told in a meeting with the health officials at the conference room of Sylhet Osmani Medical College and Hospital. He also claimed that no death has been reported due to lack of medical treatment or for shortage of food in the district. This has been a great achievement, he noted. Also read: Receding flood waters reveal disastrous damage in Sylhet The government has taken steps to solve the problems faced by the community clinics, health centres and hospitals in the flood-hit areas, he said. Flood water entered the ground floor of Osmani Medical College and Hospital on June 18. Medical activity of the hospital has been hampered badly due to the flood, said the minister. The radiotherapy, CT scan and MRI machines went out of order forcing the authorities concerned to suspend the operation. The power supply also remained suspended for sometimes at the hospital as the flood water also entered into the generator room. But the authorities concerned restored the power supply instantly in an alternative way, said Maleque. He assured of taking necessary steps to prevent waterlogging. Also read: Flood situation worsens in parts of Sylhet The minister also visited the flood-hit areas in Sunamganj by a helicopter. He distributed relief materials among 7,000 people in Sylhet and Sunamganj districts.

Health and Family Welfare Minister Zahid Maleque on Sunday told the Parliament that Bangladesh received a total of 115 million Covid-19 vaccines free of cost under the Covax facilities. “Bangladesh has so far got a total of 295 million Covid vaccines. Of these, 180 million vaccines were procured and we got the remaining doses free under the Covax facilities,” he said, replying to a supplementary question from Jatiya Party lawmaker Mujibul Haque (Kishoreganj-3). In reply to a scripted question from Treasury Bench lawmaker Ali Azam (Bhola-2), the minister said the government has a plan to vaccinate 80 per cent people of the country and all nationals aged above 5 will come under the Covid inoculation coverage. Also read: Bangladesh number 1 recipient of COVID-19 vaccines under COVAX: UNICEF As of June 01, the people were given a total of 12,87,73,436 first doses of Covid-19 vaccines, 11,76,45,371 second shots and 1,52,89,610 booster doses, he said adding that some 2,43,918 doses were given to the floating people. Responding to a starred question from Awami League MP Nurunnabi Chowdhury (Bhola-3), the health minister said the government suspended the production licenses of 46 drug companies from January 2021 to November 2021 for the sale of adulterated, substandard and expired medicines. The 46 companies include 17 homeopathic companies, 14 ayurvedic, six yunani, five allopathic and four herbal ones. The mobile courts filed a total of 2,036 cases and materialized over Tk 26.7 million as fine for the same offenses in 2021, he said. Also read: Declare vaccines as global goods, Hasina urges World Health Assembly Besides, 91 cases were filed in the magistrate courts and 21 other cases were lodged in the drug courts in this regard, said the Minister.

The second round of mega Covid vaccination drive without any registration has been extended by three more days until April 3, said Health Minister Zahid Maleque on Thursday. The minister made the announcement while handing Health Minister’s National Award 2020 at the city’s Osmani Memorial Auditorium. Read: Bangladesh sees 73 new Covid cases, no death “To tackle the Covid-19 situation, so far 13 crore first doses and 11 crore second doses of vaccines have been administered bringing 96% of the targeted population under the campaign,“ said Minister Maleque. “We still have five crore vaccine doses in stock and have six crore more in pipeline. We have decided to extend the mass vaccination program to bring the remaining people under the campaign,” he said.

People will be eligible for taking booster shot four months after receiving the second dose of Covid-19 vaccine, said Health Minister Zahid Maleque on Wednesday. “We are conducting the vaccination activities successfully and during the peak time of the pandemic we provided medical services to both Covid and non-Covid patients,” he said at a press briefing on the occasion of the National Deworming Week, held at the ministry. READ: Mass vaccination campaign to continue till Feb 28: Minister Besides, the government has taken an initiative to launch a special vaccination campaign aiming to bring 3.25 crore people under vaccination from March 17 to March 31, marking the birth anniversary of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Deworming week The deworming week will start from March 20 and deworming tablets will be given for children aged between 5-16 at all primary and secondary level educational institutions across the country at free of cost. The week-long campaign will be held in all government, private schools, madrashas and orphanages. READ: Regular vaccination campaign to continue even after Feb 26: Minister Some 4 crore children will be brought under the deworming campaign and the dropped out students and street children will be brought under the campaign.