Prime Minister’s wife and Vice President of the Ziaur Rahman Foundation, Dr Zubaida Rahman, on Tuesday said the government is working to identify gaps in Bangladesh’s health sector and take the necessary steps to improve healthcare services across the country.
Speaking as the chief guest at a workshop titled The Path to Becoming a Health Entrepreneur in Bangladesh at a hotel in Gulshan, Dhaka, she said the government was committed to ensuring quality healthcare for every citizen and was placing greater emphasis on involving young people in achieving that goal.
She said developing young people as health entrepreneurs would help address both existing and emerging challenges in the healthcare system.
“We can provide young people with training and mentorship opportunities so they can transform their innovative ideas into reality. For this, they need to be connected with the health system, researchers, social and private-sector innovators, investors and government institutions,” she said.
Dr Zubaida Rahman also highlighted the role of universities in promoting innovation, saying educational institutions should create an environment where students learn through practical work and teachers collaborate across disciplines.
“We must prepare the new generation to face future challenges and encourage them to take innovative initiatives,” she said.
She described health entrepreneurship as more than launching businesses or commercialising healthcare services. Instead, she said, it involves using creativity, evidence and discipline to identify gaps in the health system and develop practical solutions to real-world problems.
Referring to the financial burden of medical treatment, she said illness had become one of the leading causes of poverty in Bangladesh, with people currently paying around 72 per cent of healthcare costs from their own pockets.
“We believe health service is not a privilege; it is a fundamental right. However, years of neglect and lack of accountability in the health sector have increased the burden on ordinary people. We are now working to ensure healthcare for all, and making healthcare services accessible to every household is one of our key priorities,” she said.
She also pointed to the country's changing healthcare landscape, citing the rising prevalence of non-communicable diseases, an ageing population, climate change-related health risks and rapid urbanisation as key challenges.
“These challenges cannot be addressed by any single institution or sector alone. They require new thinking and stronger partnerships,” she said.
Finance Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury, Health and Family Welfare Minister Sardar Md Sakhawat Husain and Prime Minister’s Special Assistant for Health Affairs Dr SM Ziauddin Haider also addressed the workshop.
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