Health Reform Commission submits final report to Chief Advisor Yunus

The Health Sector Reform Commission - one of the five commissions formed in the second phase to recommend state reforms – has submitted its final report to chief advisor Muhammad Yunus.

With the submission at 11am on Monday, all the commissions formed in the second phase have submitted their reports to the Chief Advisor's Office (CAO).

The CAO said the report was officially submitted at a ceremony held at the State Guest House Jamuna in Dhaka.

On Nov 18, the interim government formed five reform commissions in the second phase to cover the media, health, labour, women’s affairs, and local government.

Although a 90-day deadline was initially set for these commissions, it was later extended to Mar 31 and again to Apr 30.

The commission, formed to reform the health sector, was headed by National Professor Dr AK Azad Khan, who is also the president of the Diabetic Association of Bangladesh. An 11-member expert committee under his leadership helped provide recommendations for necessary reforms in the health sector.

The members of the commission are:

Professor Md Muhammad Zakir Hossain of the Public Health and Health Informatics Department at BSMMU; Prof Dr Liaquat Ali, chairman of Pothikrit Foundation; Prof Dr Sayera Akther, a gynaecologist; Prof Dr Naila Zaman Khan, a neurologist at the Department of Pediatric Neuroscience; MM Reza, former secretary; Prof Dr Muzaherul Huq, former regional adviser (South-East Asia Region) at the WHO; Dr Azharul Islam of the ICDDR,B; Prof Dr Syed Md Akram Hossain of the Square Cancer Centre at Square Hospital; Prof Dr Syed Atiqul Haque the chief consultant of Green Life Centre for Rheumatic Care and Research; Dr Ahmed Ahsanur Rahman a scientist at ICDDR,B; and Omair Afif, a student of Dhaka Medical College.

After the fall of the Awami League government in the face of a mass uprising on Aug 5, 2024, the interim government took initiatives to reform various sectors and restructure the state.

Six commissions were initially formed in the first phase to recommend reforms to the Constitution, judiciary, election system, public administration, police and Anti-Corruption Commission.

The reports of the commissions in the first phase have already been published.

The reports of the five commissions formed in the second phase—Health, Labour, Women, Local Government and Media—have all been submitted to the CAO.

The National Consensus Commission has started a dialogue with political parties since Mar 20 to build a national consensus on the recommendations of the remaining reform commissions, except for police reform.