The government will soon recruit 100,000 new health workers under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to address the acute manpower shortage in public hospitals across the country, Health and Family Welfare Minister Sardar Md. Sakhawat Hossain told Parliament on Monday.
The announcement came during the question-and-answer session of the Jatiya Sangsad in response to a query from lawmaker Sabikun Nahar.
The minister said Bangladesh’s public healthcare system is facing a severe shortage of doctors, nurses and frontline health workers, with thousands of approved positions currently lying vacant.
According to the minister, the total number of approved physician posts in government hospitals stands at 41,806, of which 9,407 are currently vacant.
The nursing workforce is also experiencing a significant shortage. Of the 49,879 approved nursing positions nationwide, 45,302 are currently filled, leaving 4,577 posts vacant.
The largest staffing gap exists among frontline health workers. Out of 65,230 approved positions across various field-level health service categories, only 46,283 personnel are currently in service, leaving 18,947 posts unfilled.
Among them, there are 23,500 approved positions for Family Welfare Assistants (FWAs), but only 15,207 are currently employed, resulting in 8,293 vacancies.
Similarly, 3,161 of the 6,361 approved posts for Family Welfare Visitors (FWVs) remain vacant.
The minister also said that 540 of the 14,460 approved Community Health Care Provider (CHCP) positions at community clinics are currently unfilled.
In addition, 6,953 posts for Health Assistants (HAs) remain vacant out of a total of 20,909 approved positions.
The minister said the planned recruitment of 100,000 health workers is aimed at strengthening healthcare services nationwide by filling these longstanding vacancies and improving service delivery in public health facilities.
