Patients won’t seek treatment abroad if quality care provided locally: Asif Nazrul

Law Adviser Asif Nazrul on Saturday (August 16) urged doctors and private healthcare providers to improve services in Bangladesh, saying "patients would no longer seek treatment abroad if quality care was available at home."

Speaking at the annual meeting of the Bangladesh Private Hospital, Clinic and Diagnostic Owners Association in Dhaka, he said, "Patients often travel to India and Bangkok out of frustration with local facilities."

"Prevent patients from going abroad by offering quality treatment locally," he added.

He criticised poor service, low salaries for nurses, and unnecessary medical tests, calling on hospital owners to increase staff pay and ensure ethical practices.

He said, "Are your earnings too low to pay nurses a fair salary? Increasing employee wages may slightly reduce profits—by 10 percent if you earn 100 crore taka—but the improved service they provide will more than compensate for it."

He also questioned the influence of pharmaceutical companies in private clinics and hospitals. He called for stopping unnecessary tests for poor patients and criticized doctors for acting as intermediaries for pharmaceutical companies in private and major hospitals.