Healthy life elusive despite progress

Though Bangladesh has made significant progress in the health sector, healthy life and healthcare still remains a major question, said economist Dr Hossain Zillur Rahman yesterday. 

Addressing a press conference at Jatiya Press Club in the capital, he asked, "Average lifespan of Bangladeshis has gone up to 69 years, but is this life healthy?"

Hossain Zillur Rahman, also former adviser to a caretaker government and executive chairman of Power and Participation Research Centre (PPRC), said on average a Bangladeshi spends 66 percent of income on healthcare, while the global figure is 35 percent.

PPRC organised the press conference to announce an international health conference titled "Realising Universal Health Coverage Goals: Bangladesh Realities and Way Forward".

Medical and public health experts from home and abroad will attend the conference on April 9-11.

PPRC is organising the event with support from the Rockefeller Foundation and The World Bank in partnership with Bangladesh Diabetic Association (DAB), Gonoshashthaya Kendra, Centre for Injury Prevention and Research, Bangladesh (CIPRB), Brac, icddr,b, Centre for Excellence on Universal Health Coverage and Association of Medical Education.