Prime Minister Tarique Rahman has announced that the government will recruit 100,000 health workers to ensure primary healthcare services for the country’s people, with 80% of the new recruits expected to be women.

He made the announcement on Saturday while addressing a conference of Upazila Health and Family Planning Officers (UHFPOs) at the Osmani Memorial Auditorium in the capital.

The prime minister said the government is working to improve healthcare services at district- and upazila-level hospitals, while also reducing disparities in healthcare access between urban and rural areas.

“We will upgrade medical services at district and upazila hospitals. Efforts are underway to eliminate inequality in healthcare between cities and villages,” he said.

He added that the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) government has a long-term plan for the health sector and would gradually allocate five percent of GDP to healthcare.

The prime minister also described the failure of the previous two governments over measles vaccination as a life-threatening crime.

He said every hospital and health center in the country would be brought under accountability mechanisms. To improve treatment services, an integrated e-health card system will be introduced, followed gradually by a national health insurance programme.

Calling for cooperation from the medical community, Tarique said the government needs the support of physicians to ensure quality healthcare services.

He also assured that doctors’ security concerns would be resolved quickly, while other outstanding issues would be addressed in phases.

The prime minister further said that alongside increasing subsidies, the government had to urgently purchase oil worth more than $2 billion from the international market.