The government will appoint 13,500 community healthcare providers for as many community clinics across the country in next five years, health and family welfare minister AFM Ruhal Huq told the parliament on Sunday. He said the government would also provide the community clinics with mini-computer equipped with web-based camera system so that they could get telemedicine services from upazila, district and reputed public hospitals. He said all district and upazila level hospitals were provided with a mobile phone to enable local people to consult physicians anytime.

‘The process for appointing 13,500 community health care providers will start at the earliest,’ Ruhal Huq said in the question-answer hours in the house. One community healthcare provider will be sent to each community clinic, he said. Several lawmakers of the treasury bench demanded that the 31-bed hospitals in upazilas be upgraded to 50-bed ones. They also called for appointment of physicians, providing ambulances and medical equipment and medicine for hospitals in respective constituencies.

The minister said the government had asked the Essential Drugs Company Limited to supply 5 lakh Oseltamivir capsules, which was used in the treatment of swine flu, in addition to current stock of one million capsules at the central medical store and 1.9 million capsules sent to district, upazila and medical college hospitals.

-New Age