College students to serve as health volunteers at upazila hospitals: State minister

State Minister for Health Dr MA Muhit said on Thursday that the government plans to engage college students as health volunteers at every upazila health complex to help rural patients access services and curb the activities of brokers at public hospitals.
Ten students, five male and five female, would serve at each complex for one day a week and receive an honorarium, he said at a workshop on "District Health Planning" at the Circuit House in Sirajganj, jointly organised by the district administration and the health department.
The volunteers would help patients collect tickets and guide them to doctors, laboratories and other service points, added the state minister.
He said many rural patients do not know where to go or how to access services, leaving them vulnerable to exploitation by brokers. The initiative would also foster a sense of ownership of public hospitals among local students, he added.
The state minister announced that a year-long family planning campaign would begin nationwide on 1 December, with field workers to receive adequate supplies from the first day. Sirajganj will be among five to six districts chosen to pilot the e-Health Card, and the government aims to make it the country's first cataract-free district within two years.
He asked the district's 11 government healthcare institutions to submit 90-day work plans within seven days. Within three months, they must ensure clean hospitals, a broker-free environment and free medicines and diagnostics for at least 50% of patients, using existing resources. He also proposed a District Health Forum of civil society members, journalists and service recipients.
Health Services Division Secretary Dr ANM Bazlur Rashid said special operational funds of Tk10 lakh to Tk50 lakh were being considered for field-level institutions on a pilot basis, and that about 5,000 healthcare workers would be recruited by February.
DGHS Director General Prof Dr Prabhat Chandra Biswas said staff attendance, cleanliness and supplies of vaccines and essential medicines had improved over the past eight months.
Sirajganj Deputy Commissioner Md Aminul Islam chaired the workshop, while Civil Surgeon Dr Muhammad Nurul Amin presented the keynote paper.