Health-tech in Bangladesh: Safeguarding the country’s health care sector with constant improvement
With the vision of Digital Bangladesh, the nation has set its foot on the path of digitization. Last year when the entire country saw an influx of Covid-19 cases, e-health allowed healthcare to reach the households of Bangladesh allowing patients to receive quality health services in the palm of their hands by ensuring
safety measures. Initiatives were taken in the past to establish e-health services in Bangladesh, however, due to lack of technological advancement imperceptible advancement were made. At present with a significant amount of the population having access to mobile phones and the internet has made the availability of e-health services feasible.
Exploiting the blessing of artificial intelligence several new health-tech platforms have emerged in Bangladesh. These platforms are not only standing by the side of the Covid-19 affected patients but also with patients who are afraid of visiting doctors for other health-related issues during the pandemic. Starting from helping patients with mental health issues, to connecting patients with their desired doctors who can provide them with online consultations, to providing medicines at the patients’ doorsteps and providing pharmacies in remote areas with the required medical supplies, to providing diagnostic test services at home, all of these have been successfully implemented in Bangladesh, by the youth over the past few years.
The government has not been sitting behind in exploiting technology for health care, countless approaches were initiated by the government in order to reach out to the patients. Online portals have been established to keep the people updated with the latest Covid news, chatbots are delivering health services by extracting information from health experts of renowned organizations. Awareness is being spread to each citizen by the means of social media. Similar approaches like Bangladesh have also been taken by our neighbors India, Pakistan, and Nepal. While the city dwellers are benefitting from all the advancements, the rural poor are still being a victim of the digital divide. Even though several approaches have been initiated in the rural areas, they still have a long way to go.
As Bangladesh is still on its way towards digital Bangladesh, countless bridges need to be constructed in order to fill in the gap in the fractured healthcare
system. According to experts, the emerging e-health platform provides a path for the socio-economic development of the country. Hence, with proper utilization of resources, the country will be able to level up the health care sector, especially in the rural areas.
Bonnishikha Chowdhury
Executive Officer
IDLC Finance Limited