Prime Minister Tarique Rahman on Saturday urged doctors to ensure that political involvement does not come in the way of their professional responsibilities or the delivery of healthcare, stressing that patient care must always remain their foremost duty.

“Political involvement should never become a reason for failing to perform professional duties. This is most important,” he said while addressing a doctors’ rally marking the 37th founding anniversary of the Doctors Association of Bangladesh (DAB) on the LD Hall premises of the Jatiya Sangsad.

The Prime Minister said it is not unreasonable for students, teachers and professionals to remain politically aware or organised according to their own beliefs in a democratic country as political decisions affect almost every aspect of public life.

“But political involvement must not hinder the performance of your professional duties,” he said, urging DAB doctors to remain mindful of the issue.

Tarique Rahman said there was now a strong and growing demand across the country for qualitative changes in politics, with people seeking to move beyond traditional political practices and bring broader changes across different sectors particularly since August 5.

He also stressed the need to shift greater focus towards disease prevention, saying the government believes people can avoid many illnesses if they are made aware of their causes and prevention at an early stage.

Tarique Rahman referred to an observation attributed to inventor Thomas Edison that future doctors would focus less on medicines and more on helping people care for their bodies, maintain proper nutrition and understand the causes and prevention of disease.

“In healthcare, the policy of the present government is ‘prevention is better than cure’,” he said.

The Prime Minister said the government plans to recruit another 100,000 health workers to raise public awareness about basic healthcare and disease prevention.

He stressed that the new health workers would need proper training to carry out their responsibilities effectively.

The Prime Minister said the government had inherited a fragile state including a weak economy, a divided administration and struggling education and healthcare systems, and is working to bring the country back on its feet.

He said that even in such circumstances, vested interests that had benefited from fascism remained active in the country’s politics, governance and administration.

He noted that a group has recently been trying to create instability in the power and energy sectors by presenting various misleading claims.

He said the government has never denied that many people are currently facing difficulties over electricity and gas supplies.

However, Tarique Rahman said the government has inherited broader structural problems including the consequences of poorly planned policies and programmes in the energy sector and decisions taken in the past to benefit particular groups.

He said the government has already started working to address those problems and is seeking to develop a proper plan to gradually bring the country and its people out of the crisis in the energy sector including fuel and gas.

The Prime Minister urged doctors at all levels—from upazila and district hospitals to divisional and central facilities—to work alongside the government to improve the healthcare system.

“Without your cooperation, support and help, it will not be possible for the government to implement these plans,” he said.

The Prime Minister said the government has allocated the second-highest budget ever for the health sector as part of its efforts to modernise and strengthen the country's healthcare system.

He said the government is also working to introduce universal health coverage as soon as possible and has taken steps to bring every upazila health complex under the system.

Tarique Rahman, however, said better infrastructure alone would not ensure success unless doctors remained committed to serving patients. “If doctors do not dedicate themselves to their profession with a spirit of service, infrastructure development alone will not bring success.”

The Prime Minister acknowledged that doctors often have to work under difficult conditions but said negligence or laxity in some cases could undermine public confidence in both the government and the healthcare system.

“People expect doctors to play a more responsible and humane role,” he said.

The Prime Minister called for collective efforts to build a healthcare-friendly Bangladesh where every citizen would receive quality medical care and people would no longer have to travel abroad for advanced treatment.

Earlier, Tarique Rahman and his wife Dr Zubaida Rahman planted two saplings on  the LD Hall premises before the rally began.

The Prime Minister then hoisted the national flag as the national anthem was played. He and Zubaida later inaugurated the doctors’ rally by releasing pigeons and balloons.

Two papers—“Bangladesh’s health sector: From crisis to solution” and “The rise of the national health system”—were presented at the event by Dr Mostafa Adib Suman and Saif Mohammad respectively.

DAB President Prof Harun Al Rashid chaired the programme.

Local Government Minister Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, PM’s wife Dr Zubaida Rahman, Women and Children Affairs Minister Prof AZM Zahid Hossain, Health Minister Sardar Md Sakhawat Husain, State Minister MA Muhit, the Prime Minister’s Special Assistant for Health SM Ziauddin Haider and DAB Secretary General Zahirul Islam Shakil also addressed the gathering.