Impact of COVID-19 Crisis on Healthcare Sector in Bangladesh and Possible Solutions

Abstract

Like most other countries in the world, the recent COVID-19 outbreak has severely impacted the healthcare sectors in Bangladesh. Despite a very late response to the COVID-19 outbreak, many governments and non-government initiatives have been launched to deal with the crisis in Bangladesh. However, it is evidenced that there is a severe dearth of health personnel, ICU beds, ventilators, PPE, and other required medical equipment for health professionals. The inadequate and ill-timed response from the government has resulted in an increased rate of infection and deaths. Moreover, Non-COVID-19 patients suffer from accessing their regular treatments, primarily due to the lack of safety provided to the health professionals. Therefore, rapid and proactive measurements, digital interventions at a large scale (e.g., use of mHealth and artificial intelligence), decentralization (e.g., equal support and availability of facilities in both rural and urban areas), healthcare budget, multi-party coordination, boosting support for private startups, and increasing testing and treating facilities are highly recommended as possible solutions. Keywords: COVID-19, Pandemic, Healthcare, Bangladesh.