The State of Bangladesh Health

Executive Summary

Bangladesh presents one of the most instructive health paradoxes in global development: life expectancy has reached 74.9 years, rivaling many middle-income countries, while total health spending stands at just 2.2% of GDP ($46.0 per capita). Maternal mortality has fallen to 115 per 100,000 live births, representing a roughly 70% reduction since 1990, and immunization coverage exceeds 98% for DPT3. Yet behind these headline achievements lies a health system under severe structural strain: out-of-pocket spending at 79.3% of total health expenditure pushes millions into poverty annually, the physician density of 0.72 per 1,000 falls well below the WHO benchmark of 1.0, and non-communicable diseases now account for 67.0% of all deaths in a system designed primarily for infectious disease. The UHC service coverage index at 52/100, well below the SDG target, quantifies the gap between aspiration and reality.

Universal Health Coverage and Health Financing

The most fundamental structural failure in Bangladesh's health system is the financing model. Government health expenditure at 0.44% of GDP is among the lowest in the world, leaving households to absorb 79.3% of all health costs out of pocket, a figure that is among the very highest in the world.

• Catastrophic health expenditure: An estimated 5% of the population, roughly 8-9 million people, is pushed below the poverty line each year by health costs alone. This figure understates the true burden, as it excludes households that forgo care entirely due to cost.
• No social health insurance: Bangladesh has no functioning social health insurance mechanism of meaningful scale. The Shasthya Surokhsha Karmasuchi (SSK) pilot in select upazilas has shown promise but covers a small fraction of the population.
• UHC coverage gap: The UHC index at 52/100 reflects deficits across service coverage domains: essential services including reproductive, maternal, newborn, and child health; infectious disease control; NCD management; and service capacity and access. Compare Thailand's UHC index of 83, achieved through its Universal Coverage Scheme launched in 2002 at a comparable income level.
• Fiscal space: The Abuja Declaration target of 15% of government expenditure allocated to health remains aspirational. Bangladesh could double government health spending through tobacco and sugar taxation, improved tax collection, and budgetary reallocation. Current tobacco taxes generate revenue but remain below WHO-recommended levels relative to retail price.

Health Workforce Crisis

Bangladesh faces a health workforce emergency that the headline statistics only partially capture.

• Physician density: At 0.72 per 1,000 people, Bangladesh falls short of the WHO minimum of 1.0 by a gap of 0.28 per 1,000. This translates to approximately 70,000 additional physicians needed at current population levels.
• Nursing crisis: Nurse density at 0.40 per 1,000 yields a nurse-to-physician ratio of approximately 0.67:1, compared to the WHO-recommended 3:1. Bangladesh would need roughly 15 times its current nursing capacity per physician to meet global guidelines.
• Geographic maldistribution: An estimated 70-80% of physicians practice in Dhaka and major cities, leaving rural Bangladesh served primarily by informal providers, village doctors (palli chikitshok) with rudimentary training, and drug sellers who provide de facto primary care.
• Brain drain: Thousands of Bangladeshi physicians and nurses emigrate annually to Gulf states, the UK, and Australia, where compensation is 5-20 times domestic levels. This represents a massive implicit subsidy from Bangladesh's health system to wealthier nations.
• Hospital infrastructure: At 0.92 beds per 1,000, Bangladesh has among the lowest bed densities in Asia. Vietnam has 2.6/1,000, Thailand exceeds 2.0, and even India reaches 0.5. ICU capacity is concentrated in a handful of Dhaka hospitals, as COVID-19 starkly demonstrated.

NCD Prevention and the Double Burden

Non-communicable diseases account for 67.0% of all deaths in Bangladesh, a share that will grow as the population ages and urbanization accelerates.

• Diabetes epidemic: Prevalence is rising rapidly, fueled by dietary transition toward processed foods and sedentary urban lifestyles. An estimated 8-10% of adults have diabetes, with many undiagnosed in rural areas where screening is unavailable.
• Cardiovascular disease: CVD is now the leading cause of death. Risk factors including hypertension, tobacco use (35% of adult males), air pollution, and dietary change are widespread but poorly monitored outside Dhaka.
• Double burden with infectious disease: TB incidence at 200 per 100,000 remains among the world's highest, and antimicrobial resistance threatens treatment effectiveness. The health system must simultaneously manage acute infectious disease and chronic NCD care, requiring fundamentally different service delivery models.
• Dengue emergency: The 2023 dengue outbreak, with 321,179 confirmed cases and 1,705 deaths, was the worst in Bangladesh's history, overwhelming hospital capacity and exposing critical gaps in vector surveillance, Aedes mosquito control, and clinical management. Climate change is expanding the geographic range and seasonal duration of dengue transmission.
• Antimicrobial resistance (AMR): An estimated 60% of E.coli isolates show resistance to first-line antibiotics (icddr,b 2023). Unregulated antibiotic dispensing by pharmacies and village practitioners, weak infection prevention in hospitals, and agricultural antibiotic use are driving resistance. AMR threatens the effectiveness of TB treatment, surgical prophylaxis, and maternal care. Bangladesh's pharmaceutical industry supplies 97% of domestic drug needs, but antimicrobial stewardship programmes remain negligible.
• Tobacco: Bangladesh has one of the world's highest tobacco use rates. Despite the Tobacco Control Law, enforcement is weak and industry influence remains substantial.

Primary Health Care and Community Systems

Bangladesh's community-based health model was revolutionary but has reached the limits of what it can deliver.

• Community health workers: Approximately 50,000 Shasthya Shebikas and other community health workers deliver basic preventive and curative services. This model, pioneered by BRAC, was responsible for dramatic reductions in child mortality through oral rehydration therapy, immunization promotion, and family planning. But community health workers cannot manage diabetes, screen for cancer, or treat cardiovascular disease.
• DGHS facility network: The 18,000 public health facilities range from community clinics (13,000+) to upazila health complexes, district hospitals, and medical college hospitals. Many lower-tier facilities operate without physicians, adequate equipment, or essential medicines.
• Private sector dominance: The private sector delivers approximately 60% of healthcare but is largely unregulated. Quality varies enormously, pricing is opaque, and there is no effective accreditation system. Private providers range from corporate hospital chains in Dhaka to unqualified village practitioners.
• Immunization success: Coverage of 98.0% for DPT3 and 97.0% for measles represents a genuine public health triumph, achieved through a government-NGO partnership model that is globally recognized. This success demonstrates what the system can achieve when political will, community infrastructure, and donor support converge.

Mental Health and Neglected Priorities

Mental health represents the most severely neglected dimension of Bangladesh's health system.

• Workforce: With approximately 5 psychiatrists per 10 million people, Bangladesh has a negligible specialist mental health workforce. Compare India (3 per million) or Thailand (1.2 per 100,000). An estimated 17% of the population suffers from a mental health condition, but treatment coverage is below 10%.
• Spending: Mental health receives just 0.5% of the health budget, far below the WHO-recommended 5-10%. There is no standalone mental health legislation; the 2018 Mental Health Act is poorly implemented.
• Integration: The most viable pathway is integrating mental health screening and basic treatment into primary care, training community health workers in psychological first aid, and establishing district-level mental health services. The WHO mhGAP programme provides a proven model.
• Stunting as cognitive capital loss: Stunting prevalence at 28.0% of children under five is persistently elevated. Stunting is not merely a nutrition indicator; it causes permanent cognitive deficits, reducing educational attainment and adult earnings. At current prevalence, roughly one in four children suffers irreversible human capital loss before age two.

Outlook, Risks, and Policy Implications

Three principal risks define the health outlook:

• The NCD cost tsunami: As NCDs rise from 67.0% of deaths and the population ages, health costs will escalate dramatically. NCDs require long-term management, specialist care, and expensive medications that the current financing model cannot sustain. Without proactive NCD prevention (tobacco control, diet regulation, physical activity promotion), Bangladesh faces a fiscal and health crisis within a decade.
• Pandemic preparedness gaps: COVID-19 exposed critical weaknesses in surveillance, laboratory capacity, oxygen supply, and ICU infrastructure. With 0.92 hospital beds per 1,000 and ICU capacity concentrated in Dhaka, any future pandemic would overwhelm the system. Bangladesh lacks a functioning early warning system for emerging infectious diseases.
• Health workforce collapse: The combination of low density (0.72 physicians/1,000), severe geographic maldistribution, and ongoing brain drain creates a self-reinforcing cycle. The system cannot train and retain enough health workers to meet even minimum standards, and the quality of care in underserved areas continues to deteriorate.

Three policy recommendations:

• Double government health spending to 1% of GDP within 5 years: From the current 0.44% of GDP, a phased increase financed through tobacco taxation (raising to 75% of retail price), sugar taxes, and improved revenue collection would fund essential investments in UHC, workforce expansion, and NCD services. The target should be reducing OOP from 79.3% to below 40% within a decade, using Thailand's Universal Coverage Scheme as a model.
• Establish mandatory rural service and workforce expansion: Require 2-3 years of rural service for all medical graduates, supported by hardship allowances, career advancement guarantees, and adequate facility infrastructure. Expand medical and nursing school capacity with quality safeguards. Create a mid-level health provider cadre for NCD management at upazila level.
• Regulate the private sector and strengthen primary care: Establish a mandatory accreditation system for private health facilities, implement transparent pricing requirements, and strengthen the DGDA's pharmaceutical quality assurance capacity. Upgrade upazila health complexes to provide NCD screening, diabetes management, hypertension treatment, and mental health services, reducing the unsustainable pressure on tertiary hospitals in Dhaka.

Data sources: WHO Global Health Observatory 2023, World Bank WDI, Bangladesh DGHS Health Bulletin 2023, WHO NCD Country Profile 2022, WHO Mental Health Atlas 2020, NIPORT Bangladesh DHS.