By Md Aynal Haque

RAJSHAHI, Jan 21, 2024 (BSS) - The Health Engineering Department (HED) has implemented 64 projects for specially reaching health services to rural and marginalized people in the region in the last around 15 years.
 
Muhammad Moniruzzaman, Superintending Engineer of HED, told BSS that they have constructed eleven 10-bed Mother and Child Welfare Centres (MCWC) in Naogaon, Bogura and Sirajganj districts.

Apart from constructing four new Medical Assistant Training Schools at Naogaon, Joypurhat and Sirajganj districts, three more Institute of Health Technologies have been established there.

The 50-bed Kazipur Upazila Health Complex has been upgraded to 100-bed hospital through necessary repairing and renovation along with reconstruction of three old 31-bed Upazila Health Complex at Godagari, Charghat, Gomostapur and Nachole.

A new 50-bed Upazila Health Complex has been established at Naldanga in Natore coupled with constructing three 20-bed upazila hospitals in Sirajganj district and a 10-bed hospital in Bera Upazila of Pabna district.
 
Union Health and Family Welfare Centre at Alampur, Dharabarisha and Khubjipur were also reconstructed with horizontal extension of academic building of Regional Population Training Institute (RPTI) at Rajshahi and further extension, repair and reconstruction of RPTI in Bogura.
 
The union level facilities are now providing different types of need-based healthcare services, including antenatal care (ANC), postnatal care (PNC), normal delivery and neonatal care, to the grassroots people.

The labor room was equipped with all requisite devices and apparatus, including mini freeze, postpartum hemorrhage eclampsia and its protocol and total quality management.

With this breakthrough, the rate of maternal and neonatal mortality and morbidity has started reducing in the rural areas in achieving the number three sustainable development goals.
 
Eight 31-bed Upazila Health Complexes in Rajshahi, Pabna, Bogura, Natore, Rangpur and Dinajpur were upgraded to 50-bed hospitals.

Remodeling, renovation and repairing works of six upazila health complexes in Pabna and Joypurhat districts have been accomplished with constructing four nursing colleges in Sirajganj and Lalmonirhat districts and two nursing institutes in Natore district.
 
Apart from constructing deputy director and divisional director offices of the Department of Family Planning (DFP) in Rajshahi, DFP deputy director office has been constructed in Naogaon.

Side by side with construction of multipurpose bhaban at Rajshahi Medical College Hospital and Bogura Medical College and Hospital, a family welfare and volunteer training institute has been established at Kazipur Upazila in Sirajganj district.

In addition to construction of a 100-bed diabetic hospital, construction works of remodeling of isolation suit and ward in Rajshahi Medical College Hospital and an EPI store were accomplished in Rajshahi city.
 
Twenty-eight community clinics (CCs) were built with upgrading six Upazila Health Complexes to fifty beds from 31 beds.
 
Works of remodeling, renovation and vertical extension of existing family planning store building at Charghat Upazila were completed successfully. Upazila Health Complex at Bagha has been expanded.

Engineer Moniruzzaman said that the implemented projects have started contributing enormously to raising the standard of health services in both rural and urban areas.
 
Hasanuzzaman Madhu, Chairman of Sardaha Union Parishad under Charghat Upazila, said a lot of people are getting physicians' advice, health services and necessary medicines from the rural level hospitals and clinics including community clinics without hassle.
 
The UHFWCs and CCs have attained trusts of grassroots people as they are getting necessary primary and reproductive healthcare services regularly at their doorsteps in the rural areas, he said.

The present government has given utmost emphasis on institutional delivery with ensuring ANC, PNC and neonatal care to achieve the SDG-3 through bringing down maternal and newborn death to the stipulated figures by 2030.

Sapahar Upazila Chairman Shahjahan Hossain said there are five Union level Health Facilities in the upazila and they are doing NVD for the last couple of years benefiting the village-level pregnant mothers enormously.

He said the family welfare visitors are also seen taking care of the houses of pregnant mothers.
 
Divisional Director of Health Dr Anwarul Kabir said the new infrastructural improvement has boosted the level of confidence of the doctors, technicians and others concerned working in the rural level facilities.

He mentioned strengthening the upazila and union level health facilities could be the vital means of achieving the country's ambitious target related to curbing maternal and newborn mortality rates.