Bangladesh to Recruit 100,000 Health Workers and 25,000 Midwives to Take Care of the Grassroots
Five 200-bed children’s hospitals set to open this year, says PM’s health adviser
Bangladesh plans to recruit 100,000 health workers and 25,000 midwives over the next three to four years. The aim is to bring healthcare beyond the capital and major cities and into rural communities. Dr S M Ziauddin Hyder, Special Assistant to Prime Minister Tarique Rahman on health affairs, shared the plan.
A key goal is to place two midwives in every rural union and every urban ward. This would give pregnant women, new mothers and newborns quality care close to home. Dr Hyder stressed that large-scale recruitment must go hand in hand with quality training and skills development.
Children’s hospitals to open by year-end
Visiting Rajshahi Medical College Hospital (RMCH) on Saturday, 31 October, Dr Hyder said five 200-bed children’s hospitals will open this year. A lack of staff and equipment had left them largely unused for a long time. The new posts have now been created, and purchases of equipment and furniture are almost done. The Prime Minister may open all five hospitals together in November or December.
Building capacity at existing hospitals
During the visit, Dr Hyder also pointed to long-standing shortages of staff, infrastructure and equipment at RMCH. The hospital grew from 550 to 1,200 beds in 2013, but staffing and facilities did not keep pace. Plans now call for 100 ICU beds alongside the 1,200 general beds. Snakebites are common in the Padma basin, and he promised a prompt supply of antivenom.
A global pledge
On 14 June, Dr Hyder spoke for Bangladesh at the 34th Triennial Congress of the International Confederation of Midwives in Lisbon, Portugal. There he pledged that Bangladesh would train and deploy 25,000 midwives by 2030. UNFPA Executive Director Diene Keita welcomed the commitment and called Bangladesh a pathfinder in developing professional midwives.
Background
Dr Hyder is a physician, nutritionist and international public health expert. He has more than three decades of experience across 35 countries. He retired from the World Bank in 2024 as a Senior Health and Nutrition Specialist. On 22 April this year, he was appointed Special Assistant to the Prime Minister, with the rank of state minister.
