Experts and policymakers at a discussion on Tuesday called for the establishment of an independent pay commission for Bangladesh鈥檚 health sector, stressing that fair salaries are crucial to improving service delivery and retaining skilled professionals.
The Alliance for Health Reforms, Bangladesh, a platform of health rights activists, organised the discussion titled 鈥楽alary policy for public and private healthcare workers: current realities, challenges, and recommendations鈥� at the CIRDAP auditorium in the capital Dhaka.
Dhaka University鈥檚 Institute of Health Economics professor Syed Abdul Hamid chaired the session, while the keynote was delivered by Bangladesh Medical University clinical oncology department chairman professor Syed Akram Hossain, also a member of the health sector reform commission.
Akram emphasised disparities in remuneration for health workers.
He said that physicians in Bangladesh earned just Tk 3 lakh annually on average, while their counterparts in India earned Tk 16 lakh, Tk 98 lakh in the United Kingdom and Tk 11 lakh in Singapore.
Nurses in Bangladesh earn about Tk 1.98 lakh annually compared with nearly Tk听6 lakh in India, he said.
He added that such wage gaps not only undermined professional motivation but also directly affected the quality of healthcare, prompting many skilled doctors to seek opportunities abroad.
鈥楻aising salaries is essential to retain talent, improve healthcare quality, and curb the brain drain,鈥� he noted.
Health sector reform commission chief professor AK Azad Khan, attending the discussion as chief guest, urged that salary structures should consider not only the basic pay but also additional benefits such as housing, transportation and support staff.
He called for greater transparency in pay allocation, highlighting inconsistencies in allowances and informal payments.
Government鈥檚 pay commission member Syed Atikul Haque, labour sector reform commission chief Syed Sultan Uddin Ahmed, public administration reform commission member Shahina Sobhan Mitu, DAB secretary general Md Zahirul Islam Shakil and NDF secretary Mahmud Hossain, among others, also spoke at the discussion.
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