Expenditure in health sector will see rapid increase in the coming budget as the government is going for fully equip a hospital as Covid-19 hospital at every Upazila, sources said.

Import and manufacture all necessary medical equipments as well as generate salaries and allowance to the newly appointed doctors and nurses will also swell the health expenditure.

The Finance Ministry sources said, the government will enhance the budget outlay for health sector by 40 per cent in the coming 2020-21 fiscal year.

“Allocation for health sector may reaches to Tk 27,850 crore up by Tk 7,905 crore from last fiscal year’s Tk 19,273 crore,” a high official of the budget division told Business Mirror.

The Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal finalized the budget document recently.

Among the total budget, the health ministry is likely to spend 53.20% of revenue expenditure that includes salaries and allowance and bonus of doctors and nurse along with establishment costs.

According to the finance division, the DGHS has recurred 2,000 doctors and 5,054 nurses to meet the emergency demand of state to tackle the coronavirus crisis.

The doctors were recruited from the waiting list of 8,107 applicants who passed 39th BCS, while the nurses will be recruited from the waiting list of senior staff nurse recruitment examinations held recently, said a statement of Public Service Commission.

More doctors will be recruited from that doctors’ panel next fiscal year. The government has allocated Tk 500 crore salaries and allowance for new doctors and nurses.

Of the money going to the health development, Tk 4,282 crore would come from the external sources. The World Bank and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) have each approved $100 million to aid the government to meet the growing expenditure in the sector. Besides, ADB and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank also provided Tk 250 crore each to finance for the health sector. Three development projects will be taken with a cost of Tk 3,200 crore.

The healthcare system is underdeveloped and underfunded, with only 9.9 doctors, nurses and midwives and 8.8 hospital beds per 10,000 people, while current healthcare expenditure is only 2.4 per cent of GDP, said the Asian Development Bank recently.