A one-day workshop on dissemination of the Essential Service Package (ESP) for the fourth Health, Nutrition and Population (HNP) Sector Program (2017-2021) was held in Dhaka on 21 August. The content and costing of the ESP was circulated to stakeholders from different sectors during the event. Before the dissemination workshop took place a technical consultation workshop on draft ESP and costing was held on 18 August. Both of these events were organized by the Planning Wing of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MOHFW) in collaboration with WHO Bangladesh.
What is the ESP?
ESP is defined as ‘a package of Health, Nutrition & Population (HNP) services which the Government guarantees access to every person regardless of their ability to pay for them’. The ESP represents the Government of Bangladesh’s commitment to Universal Health Coverage by ensuring people’s right to health in accessing the most essential health services.
The ESP in Bangladesh has evolved since its inception in 1998 and currently includes other priority services such as non-communicable diseases. The development of the ESP has been a participatory process with contributions from government and development partners (DPs) at various points during its design. WHO Bangladesh sits on the ESP Committee as DP representative and provided technical assistance in developing the ESP package and feasibility analysis of the ESP.
In the next step, the MOHFW will develop the ESP implementation plan in line with the country’s health system capacity and available resources. Indeed, this is a milestone for Bangladesh in its commitments towards achieving the health specific Sustainable Development Goal target and Universal Health Coverage by 2030.