Health and Family Welfare Minister Zahid Maleque said that one million people die normal deaths in the country every year. Of these, 70 per cent die of non-communicable diseases.
He made the remarks while addressing a launching ceremony of the annual research paper organised by the Non-Communicable Diseases Control (NCDC) at a city hotel on Thursday.
The minister said the country's health sector is today more advanced than at any time in the past. But many new problems have also emerged along with the development in the health sector of the country.
“We are committed to tackling infectious diseases through health care development and we have dealt with infectious diseases like TB, cholera and diarrhoea very successfully.
“We have also dealt with Covid-19 pandemic. These are now under control. But many non-communicable diseases have increased during this time,” the minister added.
Environmental pollution is one of the reasons for these deaths related to non-communicable diseases. People’s lifestyle and food habits are also responsible for increasing these deaths. Treatment of these diseases is costly. As a result, expenditure is increasing at the individual and state levels, he said.
Giving importance to research, Maleque said the research helps policymakers to take effective decisions. “So we will be engaged in more and more research. The results of several studies have been published today. We hope that the results will play a significant role in the development of our overall health system, especially in the fight against the non-communicable diseases.”
He said, "The government is also emphasising health education. At present, there are 38 government medical colleges and five medical universities in the country."
Maleque highlighted the various initiatives and successes of the government in dealing with Covid-19.
