Strengthening community-based health services
Overview
The Alma-Ata Declaration on Primary Health Care (PHC) established the tenet of ‘Health for All’ in 1978. PHC is the cornerstone of universal health coverage (UHC), which seeks that everyone has the right to access quality health services without facing financial hardship. In 1998, Bangladesh introduced community clinics (CC) under community-based health services to create a one-stop primary health care service into rural communities. CCs are the first level static health facility of the primary health care under public health sector in Bangladesh and as of 2019, there are more than 14000 CC functioning and reporting services.
WHO Bangladesh actively supports the Government in strengthening PHC through the development of guidelines and supervision tools for community-based health services. WHO assists the government in evaluating the community-based health services. For longer term, WHO promotes strengthening supply side system capacity of community health clinics together with demand generation through community participation towards integrated primary health service delivery.
Key facts
- Each CC is responsible for providing essential health services to approximately 12,000 people in the rural setting of Bangladesh.
- CCs are cost-efficient and a worthwhile investment with a return of 23% if equipment and medicines are available, and quality services are provided by competent providers.
- The number of visits to CC services increased by 57% from 2014 to 2017.
