Health and Family Welfare Minister Sardar Md Sakhawat Husain said on Wednesday that the national e-Health Card is expected to be launched by June this year to strengthen and integrate the country’s healthcare system, reports Daily Sun.
He made the remarks while addressing the closing session of a two-day high-level policy workshop in Dhaka that reviewed preparedness for implementing the national e-Health ID.
The workshop was jointly organised by the Aspire to Innovate (a2i) Programme under the ICT Division, the Health Services Division of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, and the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
The minister said Prime Minister Tarique Rahman had directed the implementation of the e-Health Card as a priority initiative to improve public service delivery. Once introduced, the card will allow physicians to access essential medical information regardless of where a patient receives treatment.
“Whether a patient seeks care in a village or a city, doctors will be able to view relevant health records through the card, enabling quicker and more accurate diagnosis and treatment,” he said.
He added that the e-Health ID would function as a foundational identity system in the health sector, enabling accurate identification of individuals across healthcare services. Hospitals, clinics and other providers would also be able to exchange medical information securely.
Sakhawat Husain said that among the government’s three major initiatives—Family Card, e-Health Card and Farmers Card—the Family Card has already been introduced, while work on the other two is progressing. He expressed hope that the e-Health Card would be launched by the end of June.
The workshop also discussed technical capacity, infrastructure readiness and institutional coordination required to implement the Health ID, Electronic Medical Record (EMR) and Shareable Health Record (SHR).
State Minister for Health Dr MA Muhit emphasised the importance of interoperability in the digital health system to ensure efficient, accurate and accessible services. Health Secretary Md Kamruzzaman Chowdhury stressed the need for good governance, data privacy protection and institutional preparedness.
Participants also reviewed EMR usage in healthcare facilities, the SHR architecture, API standards, interoperability frameworks, and the readiness of private hospitals and diagnostic centres for integration, while identifying technological and governance gaps for nationwide implementation.
Bd-Pratidin English/ AM
