98% of country's demand for medicine produced locally: Health minister

Health Minister Dr Samanta Lal Sen on Tuesday said Bangladesh has made continuous progress in the pharmaceutical industry as 98% of the country's total demand for  medicine is now produced locally.

"Almost all medicines produced in Bangladesh are being exported to 157 countries of the world," he said.

In response to the question of independent MP elected from Dhaka-19 Muhammad Saiful Islam, the minister said incentives are being given by the government to encourage the export of medicines produced in the country.

"As a part of this, incentives are being given at the rate of 10% this year," he said.

Responding to Awami League MP elected from Laxmipur-1 Anwar Khan, the minister said medicines worth Tk59 billion have been exported in the first six months till December of the current financial year.

In response to independent MP elected from Laxmipur-4 Md Abdullah, the health minister said that about 32 types of medicines are being provided to community clinics and 105 types of medicines to government hospitals free of cost.

Ongoing efforts to curb dengue epidemic

A total of 1,721 people died of Dengue from January 2023 to 5 February this year, Dr Samanta Lal Sen revealed in Parliament.

In reply to a query of ruling Awami League MP elected from Chattogram-11 M Abdul Latif, the minister said the Health Service Division has taken various measures to reduce casualties from dengue.

About the measures, Dr Samanta said pre-season (pre-monsoon), season (monsoon) and post-season (post-monsoon) surveys of Aedes mosquitoes are ongoing in Dhaka city. 

The results of the survey are being communicated to all concerned city corporations, he said.

The minister mentioned that the pre-season survey has been completed and the survey results were sent to all concerned city corporations. 

"At present, the seasonal survey is going on across the country."

The health minister also said the Aedes mosquito survey programme is being completed every two months at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport.

He said a new edition of national guidelines on dengue patient management were prepared and distributed.

Dr Samanta Lal Sen said an integrated control room for dengue prevention and control has been opened under the initiative of the Disease Control Wing of the Directorate General of Health Services, IEDCR and MIS.