Private Sector-Health, a project of RTM International, is the first of its kind in Bangladesh, aiming to improve the quality of healthcare services through implementing business-like interventions that focus on service markets of the sector. The innovativeness of this project lies in sustainable development of business services to address the constraints of the private healthcare sector at the same time ensuring the involvement and ownership of the stakeholders of private sector. The objective of the project is to develop innovative strategies that will ensure the growth of the private healthcare sector leading to high quality healthcare for the people. The project has been initiated on the basis of the findings of the market assessments conducted by RTM International. To ensure the growth of the sector and quality of healthcare, RTM international is intervening in different areas through sub-contracting with interested institutes. Over 25 sub-contracts have been processed under the project. The project is supported by Swisscontact-KATALYST which works in Bangladesh to increase competitiveness of SMEs in selected sectors through developing more effective markets for business services in the economy.

Policy advocacy:  RTM International has been working on advocacy of policy issues that impede private sector growth. RTM is able to conduct the advocacy programs as it has developed working relationship with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Nursing Council of Bangladesh, Technical Education Board, Nursing Training Institute, Paramedics Training Institutes, Hospitals, Diagnostic Centers, Mass Media, Private Medical Institutions, Private Universities and Medical Colleges.

Stakeholders’ Workshop to finalize the Guidelines for Introducing B.Sc.

Workshops, seminars and round tables are organized for sensitizing, boosting and disseminating information to the key stakeholders. The policy advocacy efforts of RTM International culminated in the adoption of the revised guidelines for introduction of B.Sc. Course in Nursing in the private medical colleges and universities. The guideline finally got approved by the GoB on 22 April 2007. Under this guideline, 4 public universities and 3 private sector university/hospitals have started offering graduate B.Sc. Nursing courses. With the success in B.Sc. Nursing, RTM International continued its efforts in working towards addressing human resources in health (HRH) crisis of the country. Accordingly RTM International worked with State Medical Faculty, NIPORT, CME and other relevant departments of MoHFW in introduction of and other relevant departments of MoHFW in introduction of different MoHFW in introduction of different courses namely Community Health Workers, Community Paramedics and Medical Assistant Training Course in the Private Sector. Project staff were assigned key role in the working committees formed by the GoB.

Introduction of B.Sc: Nursing Course in the Private Sector: One of the major findings of the study is the huge shortage of skilled nurses to serve private hospitals and clinics. The project felt the need for sustainable production of skilled nurses and realized that private sector only has the capacity to meet this huge demand. RTM took the pioneering role for introducing the 4 year B.Sc. Nursing course in Bangladesh. In the process, it provided assistance to private sector institutions in curriculum development, organizing seminars, publishing articles, ToT, inception of promotional activities/ creation of awareness program, approaching the government for permission to introduce graduate nursing courses in Bangladesh etc.

Image building campaign for promoting Nursing as an emerging diverse career: To attract new students to a profession which is long neglected as an underpaid and relatively less-respected profession is a challenging task. The poor image of nursing profession is believed to affect the entrance of meritorious students to nursing education. Image building is a critical success factor in mobilizing public perception towards nursing profession and is a sine qua non to getting good students who will be dedicated andmotivated to take up nursing as a noble and worthy profession. RTM undertook programs in partnership with private universities, private medical colleges, hospitals/clinics, media, NGOs to promote the awareness in the country through career campaigning, celebration/program on the eve of International Nurses’ day, and other programs aimed at instilling positive image of nursing profession.

Upgradation of skills of Health Technologists to meet health industry needs: One of the assessments of 2006 identified shortages of skilled health technologists to support the diagnostic/laboratory services. Hospitals/clinics and labs are filled with unskilled technical persons due to non-availability of enough skilled technologists. RTM International worked with State Medical Faculty under MoHFW to ensure generation of enough qualified Health Technologists through establishment of more institutes in the private sector and ensuring quality education through them. In line with this overseas tour to Sri Lanka, Thailand and India has been organized with concerned GoB officials. As early sign of impact, seven Health technology courses have already been introduced in the private sector. RTM senior staff actively involved in the curriculum review committee.

Promoting quality education for Paramedics through building a model institute: Roughly 90 percent and 60 percent of the primary health care services in the rural and urban areas respectively are met by the unskilled and untrained providers like quacks, pharmacy operators, paramedics, traditional birth attendants, homeopathic/herbal practitioners etc leading to increase in drug abuse, malpractices, drug reaction and decrease in people’s drug resistance which eventually result in unwanted mortality and morbidity. A better solution to provide quality healthcare to these markets is through ensuring supply of enough skilled paramedics. Considering the fact, RTM International is providing technical assistance for building a model institute, through TMSS, for ensuring quality paramedics as demanded by the market. This model institute will provide guidance to other paramedical institutes in improving their quality as well as building network between prospective employers and NGOs working in health field.

Introducing healthcare as a bundle product for microcredit recipients: RTMis conducting an intervention with TMSS microfinance institute to utilize the microcredit conquest coverage as a weapon to reach the rural poor to provide quality healthcare. TMSS introduced microfinance plus model called HEM (Health, Education and Microfinance) and piloting through its 65 branches (out of 482), where they provide discounted healthcare services to their microcredit members through establishing Health Sub-Clinics with microfinance branches. The operating cost of the sub-clinics are spent from the microfinance surplus where a fraction (about 30%) of the cost is covered by the sub-clinics own income. This imbalance of expense and income of the sub-clinic making it a burden on the microcredit branch profitability although it indirectly helping the branch by reducing loan defaulters, increasing member working efficiency and as an overall promotion to attract new members.