Doctors have to serve every patient as your family member: HPM Sheikh Hasina

"Medical treatment is not only a profession but also a great commitment and you have become specialists by dint of your hard work and talent," she said while inaugurating the 26th Annual Conference of Association of Thoracic & Cardiovascular Surgeons of Asia (ATCSA) at Hotel Radisson Blu here this afternoon.

The premier added: "Therefore, the mentality to provide services will have to be prepared within you (doctors) and you have to serve every patient as your family member."

Health Minister Mohammad Nasim joined as a special guest the conference, chaired by reputed cardiac surgeon Professor Dr Ashit Baran Adhikary and addressed, among others, by ATCSA President Dr Gerardo S Manzo and Secretary General Professor Kamrul Hassan.

Sheikh Hasina also urged the doctors to put special emphasis on research apart from providing medical treatment.

"But the death rate in cardiovascular diseases will not be reduced only by increasing the medical facilities. We have to carry out research to find out why cardiovascular diseases are inflicting so many people and how we can remain immune from the diseases," she said.

The prime minister sought doctors' initiatives to make people aware on measures to prevent cardiovascular diseases saying "for this, you have to carry out campaign more through mass media".

Sheikh Hasina also urged doctors to earn people's confidence in regard to their service quality to prevent the trend of going abroad for medical treatment.

The prime minister said her government has been ensuring all facilities for higher education and building specialized hospitals one after another and the "the doctors should earn knowledge availing all these facilities and serve the people best".

"This is what I expect from you," she said.

Sheikh Hasina said in line with Bangabandhu's philosophy her government continued to implement massive programmes to reach the healthcare facilities to people's doorsteps for the past seven and a half years.

The prime minister said Bangladesh achieved tremendous success in cardiovascular surgery in last three decades recalling that the "open-heart surgery was first conducted in 1981 in Bangladesh".

She said the number of cardiovascular operations carried out in the country in 1997 was about 500, while in 2015 the doctors carried out some 10,000 such surgeries in 22 different hospitals, "proving their substantially enhanced skills and quality of services".

In the past, she said, many people used to go to abroad to avail medical treatment but now the number have decreased, she added.

Sheikh Hasina said her government enacted Health Policy 2011 and Population Policy 2012 and built a three-tier health infrastructure at village, union and upazila enabling people at grassroots to avail healthcare facilities free of cost or with minimal costs.

The prime minister pointed out that the country witnessed installation of 16 government and 5 army medical colleges while some 10,660 beds were added to the government hospitals across the country in the last seven and half years.

During this period nearly 350 new medical educational institutions at government and non-government initiatives were set up, she said.

The prime minister said to increase the quality of medical education and conduct high quality research, her government took initiative to establish medical university in the country 1996.

"As part of the plan, we have turned the then PG hospital into Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University defying vehement opposition from a vested quarter . . . today, the people of the country are enjoying the fruit," she said.

Sheikh Hasina said the government also planned to establish two more medical universities in Rajshahiand Chittagong as part of its campaign to build a country where people will not suffer from diseases and enjoy all basic rights".

"The physicians will have to play a vital role to achieve the goal," she said.