Prime Minister Tarique Rahman has instructed authorities to introduce an ‘E-Health Card’ system to ensure medical services for citizens. The directive was given during a meeting with the health minister, state minister, advisers and public health experts at the Prime Minister’s Office in the Secretariat on Wednesday afternoon (March 4).

Additional Press Secretary Atikur Rahman Rumon later briefed reporters on the outcome of the meeting. He said the prime minister asked the health minister to begin the process of launching the e-health card. The government’s policy, he added, is to make healthcare services easily accessible to people across the country, and the ministry has been asked to intensify its efforts in this regard.

The meeting also discussed identifying unused buildings owned by different government ministries and agencies and transferring them to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to establish healthcare centres. According to the additional press secretary, the Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) alone has about 170 abandoned buildings. The prime minister suggested these facilities could be converted into clinics and treatment centres under government supervision.

Population growth was another issue highlighted during the meeting. Statistics show that around 3.4 million babies are born in the country every year. Concern was expressed over the high number of births, and the health ministry was urged to strengthen measures aimed at population control.

Officials also discussed plans to recruit around 100,000 health workers in line with the BNP’s election commitments, with about 80 percent of the positions expected to be filled by women and 20 percent by men. Filling vacant posts for doctors and other healthcare professionals in the health ministry was also reviewed.

The prime minister further urged the health minister to ensure that doctors remain regularly present at healthcare facilities in remote areas.

Among those present at the meeting were Health Minister Sardar Md. Sakhawat Hossain, State Minister for Health M A Muhit and other senior government officials.