Workshop on primary health care plans held in Sylhet

The Local Government Division and the USAID Local Health System Sustainability Project (LHSS) organized a workshop titled Workshop on Developing and Implementing Primary Health Care Plans: Lessons Learned and Best Practices.

The event took place at the Grand Sylhet Hotel and Resort on Saturday in Sylhet, reads a press release.

The workshop seeks to foster collaboration, knowledge exchange, and resource mobilization for the successful implementation of primary health care implementation plans within the urban areas of the country.

The workshop brought together 62 participants from the leadership team of the 14 Local Government Institutions (LGIs) from Rajshahi, Sylhet and Chattogram divisions.

Muhammad Ibrahim, secretary, Local Government Division, Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives, attended the event as the chief guest while Dr Malay Choudhury, additional secretary, Urban Development, Local Government Division presided over the event.

Sylhet City Corporation (SCC) Mayor Ariful Haque Choudhury also spoke on the occasion.

USAID LHSS Project in Bangladesh works with 14 Urban Local Government Institutions (LGIs) to improve equitable access to locally resourced and managed quality urban primary health care (PHC) for the vulnerable urban population.

LHSS supported equipping six project municipalities – Habiganj, Joypurhat, Moulvibazar, Naogoan, Natore, and Sirajganj, with the knowledge needed to prepare multi-year costed PHC implementation plans.

The workshop’s key objective was to provide a platform for the six project municipalities to present their meticulously prepared PHC implementation plans to the Ministry of Local Government Division (LGD).

The LGIs aims to seek LGD’s support to secure necessary resources for successful plan execution during the current Financial Year (2023-24). With LGD being the parent ministry, collaboration with key stakeholders becomes paramount for effective resource mobilization and budget allocation.

Furthermore, the workshop aims to foster a cross-learning environment, wherein five other municipalities learned the intricacies of developing costed PHC implementation plans. The three city corporations also contributed by sharing their progress against their respective plans and enriching the collective knowledge pool.

Emphasizing on the importance of this knowledge exchange workshop, LGRD Secretary Muhammad Ibrahim committed to take initiative for develop a comprehensive primary health care guideline and support the municipalities improve their primary health care service delivery.

“This workshop helps us understand the LGIs’ specific need regarding primary health care, and the support we can provide to them. We see the evidence that locally led initiatives are the key solution, and we will help them by providing infrastructure support to continue the primary health care centers,” he said.

Thanking the LHSS Project for highlighting the importance of primary health care, Chair of the workshop, Dr Malay Choudhury said: “A primary health care guideline is very significant to address the sustainability of the primary health care nativities; and the promise to a comprehensive guideline is our key takeway from this lessons-learned workshop.”

This collaborative workshop represents a decisive step forward in shaping an efficient and impactful urban primary health care system for Bangladesh. By aligning the goals and resources of LGD, municipalities, and city corporations, this workshop underscores a shared commitment to improving health care access, affordability, and effectiveness across Bangladesh.