The government is planning to establish a floating hospital to provide modern healthcare services to people living in remote coastal, island and char areas across the country.
Health State Minister Dr MA Muhit announced the plan on Friday afternoon, September 18, while speaking to reporters after inspecting the proposed floating hospital project beneath the Babubazar Bridge in Dhaka.
State Minister for Shipping Rajib Ahsan accompanied him during the inspection. The two ministers also discussed the proposed vesselâs capacity and potential healthcare services.
Muhit said ensuring healthcare for people living in remote and underserved areas is one of the governmentâs key priorities. The Health Ministry and the Ministry of Shipping are jointly working on the plan to introduce the floating hospital, named âSasthya Toriâ, he said.
The hospital is expected to provide modern treatment and surgical services for common but complex medical conditions in around 30 to 40 remote upazilas across four to five southern districts, according to the health state minister.
He said there is strong demand in rural and hard-to-reach areas for womenâs healthcare, safe delivery and postnatal care through midwives, child healthcare, basic orthopaedic and bone surgery, and cataract operations.
Specialist medical teams will be formed to provide these services through the floating hospital, Muhit said.
Highlighting the need to make better use of public resources, the state minister said there had been examples of small-scale floating hospitals operated through private initiatives in the past.
He said combining the existing resources and facilities of the health and shipping ministries under government management could help establish an integrated water-based healthcare system for coastal communities.
Rajib Ahsan said taking healthcare services to disadvantaged people in remote chars of Barishal, Noakhali, Bhola, Patuakhali and Barguna had been a long-standing plan.
Many people living in these areas cannot travel to district hospitals or Dhaka for treatment, he said, adding that the main objective of the initiative is to bring essential healthcare services closer to them.
Health Services Division Secretary Dr ANM Bazlur Rashid, Health Education and Family Welfare Division Secretary AKM Benjamin Riazi and senior officials of the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority were present during the inspection.
