PM Adviser Urges AI Integration In Healthcare

Underlining the imperative of integrating cutting-edge medical technologies into public healthcare delivery, PM Adviser for Public Administration (Minister Rank) and BNP National Standing Committee Member Md. Ismail Zabiullah has urged physicians to adopt artificial intelligence (AI), genomics, and computational diagnostics. He made the remarks as chief guest at the closing ceremony of the 138th and 139th Special Foundation Training Courses for BCS (Health) cadre officers, held on Monday, 12 October, at the National Academy for Planning and Development (NAPD) auditorium in Nilkhet, Dhaka.

A total of 80 medical officers from the BCS Health cadre completed the intensive professional training programs. During the ceremony, the adviser presented course-completion certificates to the participants and honored exceptional performers with commemorative awards.

Addressing the graduating officers, the adviser observed that algorithmic diagnostics, robotic-assisted surgical systems, and precision genomics are fundamentally restructuring clinical practice worldwide. He stressed that domestic physicians must not remain passive consumers of imported technology; rather, they should actively cultivate indigenous research and engineering breakthroughs. Developing a single innovative health-service model, clinical workflow, or digital health solution within the public sector can directly benefit millions of citizens across the country, he noted.

He urged young physicians to ground their clinical practice in data analytics, research ethics, and evidence-based medicine. Calling for dedication to realizing Prime Minister Tarique Rahman’s vision of a prosperous and modern Bangladesh, he underlined that technology must be harnessed to guarantee universal healthcare access so that no patient is deprived of treatment due to financial hardship.

Outlining government healthcare priorities, the public administration adviser stated that healthcare has received the second-highest budgetary allocation, with plans to progressively increase national health expenditures to 5 percent of GDP. Commemorating the administrative evolution of rural care, he recalled that Shaheed President Ziaur Rahman laid the institutional foundation by establishing 30-bed upazila health facilities, which former Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia subsequently expanded to 50 beds. In line with that legacy, the current administration is undertaking initiatives to upgrade upazila health complexes to 150 beds, ensuring quality clinical access in remote regions without requiring patients to travel to urban hubs.

Chaired by NAPD Director General Md. Khairul Kabir Menon, the event featured an opening address by Additional Director General Sayma Afroze, alongside academy faculty members and senior public administration officials, official sources confirmed.

//DBTech/AMP/SMP/BPO//