PM orders immediate launch of six idle children’s hospitals

Prime Minister Tarique Rahman has ordered the immediate operational launch of six children’s hospitals that have remained unused for years despite being fully constructed in different parts of the country.

The directive came during an emergency meeting with officials of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Sunday (May 10), where the prime minister instructed authorities to make the hospitals functional without delay and submit a progress report by June 2.

According to the Prime Minister’s Office, the hospitals are located in Rajshahi, Khulna, Rangpur, Barishal, Cumilla and Sylhet. Built at a combined cost of nearly Tk 320 crore, the modern hospital facilities reportedly remained abandoned and non-operational for years.

The move follows a recent national newspaper report highlighting the prolonged inactivity of the hospitals despite massive public spending.

In a Facebook post, the Prime Minister’s Office said the health secretary and other relevant officials had been instructed to immediately inspect the facilities and take effective steps to launch services.

The meeting was attended by Health Minister Sardar Md. Sakhawat Hossain, State Minister M A Muhith, Health Secretary Md. Kamruzzaman Chowdhury and other senior officials.

Alongside the children’s hospitals, the prime minister also directed authorities to fully operationalize the 500-bed Kushtia Medical College Hospital, which is currently providing only limited services.

He further ordered the removal of administrative and operational bottlenecks at the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University Super Specialized Hospital and other healthcare institutions to ensure full-scale operations.

The meeting also placed special emphasis on accelerating construction of the proposed 1,000-bed Bangladesh-China Friendship Hospital in Nilphamari. The prime minister instructed the Foreign Ministry to coordinate with the Chinese Embassy to expedite the mega project, which is aimed at strengthening modern healthcare services at the district level.

Health Secretary Kamruzzaman Chowdhury said the Nilphamari hospital would serve as a major regional referral centre for northern Bangladesh once completed, significantly improving access to specialized healthcare services in the Rangpur region.