Medical equipment purchased and left unused will ultimately have to be sold to scrap dealers, Health Minister Sardar Md Sakhawat Husain has said, citing examples of unnecessary procurement and wasteful spending in the health sector.
Speaking at a research findings dissemination event on addressing shortcomings in Bangladesh's healthcare system on Wednesday, he said:
"During the Awami League government's tenure, two radiotherapy machines worth Tk 110 million each were purchased for Tk 180 million each. Yet the facilities where they were installed were not even prepared to operate them.
"Why were they purchased? Because there was a profit of Tk 40 million to Tk 60 million on each machine. One of them is lying unused in Faridpur, and the other in Khulna."
The minister also referred to X-ray machines and other medical equipment that had been purchased and left unused in different parts of the country amid a shortage of trained technical personnel.
"Eventually, there will be no option but to sell these to scrap dealers," he said.
Speaking about the government's initiative to curb the commercialisation of diagnostic testing, Sakhawat said:
"Doctors cannot hold positions in government hospitals while operating private clinics next door, perform surgeries there during government duty hours, earn commissions, and tell patients to go to those private clinics for diagnostic tests. These practices must stop."
He added that the government would closely monitor such activities.