DHAKA, Nov 25, 2022 (BSS) - Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has said her Awami League government always keeps the development of health sector as its top priority.

She said this in a message on the occasion of the18th Annual Convention and Scientific Seminar 2022 to be held on November 26-27.

Father of the Nation, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, took every initiative to provide accessible and free health care to the grassroots people in the country, she said.

The premier said during the 1996-2001 period, her government established community clinics in every village. BNP came to power in 2001 and closed the community clinics and as a result, rural people were deprived of healthcare, she added.
 
  "We enacted the 'Human Organ Transplantation Act, 1999' to ensure the procurement, preservation, and lawful use of organs for transplantation," she said.
 
  Sheikh Hasina said: "In that law, we made provisions for the transplantation of any organ or organ including kidney, heart, lung, intestine, liver, pancreas, bone, bone marrow, eye, skin and tissue of the human body and in the case of a deceased person the taking of organs subject to the written permission of any legal heir."
 
  As a result, all legal complications in posthumous organ donation, including voluntary organ donation, have been resolved, she said.
 
  "Later, through Act No. 1 of 2018, we updated the previous acts and enacted the 'Human Organ Transplantation (Amendment) Act, 2018.' Additionally, we have made provisions for the investigation, trial, appeal, and other related matters of the crime committed under the amended law," said the premier.
 
  "As per our election manifesto, in the last 14 years, we have implemented comprehensive programs for the development of the health sector," she said.
 
  She added: "After Awami League was elected in 2008 in a landslide victory and for three consecutive terms, we reinstated the community clinic to bring health care to the people's doorsteps."
 
  "So far, we have opened about 18,500 community clinics and union health centers, where 30 types of medicines are being given free of cost," she said.
 
  She said her government formulated the 'National Health Policy- 2011' and started implementing the Eighth Five-Year Plan with a priority on achieving 'Universal Health Care.'
 
  The government has also set up new hospitals and medical centers throughout the country from where kidney disease, diabetes, and hypertension can be screened at an early stage, and proper treatment can be provided to prevent complications, said the Prime Minister.
 
  "We have set up a public-private partnership to treat kidney failure by dialysis, considering the burden it creates on the people. We have also taken all necessary measures to start the deceased kidney transplant," she added.
"I am happy that Kidney Foundation Hospital and Research Institute, Bangladesh, is organising its 18th Annual Convention and Scientific Seminar in collaboration with Royal London Hospital, UK, as a Sister Renal Center (SRC) Program of the International Society of Nephrology (ISN)," Sheikh Hasina said.

She added: "I am also glad to know that doctors and nurses from Nepal are also attending the conference. I convey my best wishes to the participants."
 
 The premier hoped there will be an exchange of views and ideas among the participants at this conference that will improve the management of kidney disease in our country.

She wished the conference great success.