President Hamid: Make health sector more vibrant to tackle Covid-like crisis

President Abdul Hamid on Wednesday (Nov 17) said Bangladesh has done better than some developed countries in successfully tackling the Covid-19 pandemic.

“In spite of the success, the country still needs to build a vibrant health sector in order to tackle similar crises in future,” he said.

He made the remarks while speaking to foreign students, studying at President Abdul Hamid Medical College, at a program at Shilpakala Academy in Kishoreganj.

"Although we have achieved tremendous success in the health sector, the Covid pandemic has also exposed some loopholes in the system. We are still in need of more skilled resources, especially specialist doctors, nursing staff and medical technologists," the president added.

Hamid also praised the health sector manpower, including doctors, nurses and technologists.

He said Bangladesh ranked first in South Asia and 20th in the world in the “Covid Resilience Ranking” compiled by Bloomberg news agency for successful handling of the coronavirus pandemic, economic revival and keeping the livelihoods running.

"We have also managed to secure a steady supply of Covid-19 vaccines. The vaccination program is going on in a full swing and around 48 million people have already received at least the first dose," he observed.

Urging both the medical institutions and the students not to choose the easiest path in taking medical education, the president said: "Medical education is highly sensitive technical education and doctors are the people who are directly concerned with our health and lives.”

Mentioning the overall standard of education in Bangladesh as very good and comparable to other developed countries, Hamid mentioned that the students have the chance to get on hand training at the hospitals. 

"The cost of the complete course of MBBS in Bangladesh is also quite affordable as compared to other countries across the world," he added.

He further said the country is becoming one of the preferred destinations for medical students around the globe ensuring a great improvement in terms of medical education.