At the ‘Youth’s Perspectives on Reforms: Employment, Health and Technology’ conference held at the Bangladesh China Friendship Conference Center, experts highlighted the urgent need to expand digital health infrastructure in rural areas to ensure equitable access to healthcare services nationwide.
Chaired by CPD Executive Director Dr. Fahmida Khatun, the session underscored how an integrated digital health ecosystem can revolutionize healthcare accessibility, especially by empowering the youth to harness technology for systemic transformation.
Keynote speaker CPD Programme Associate Preetilata Khondaker Huq addressed challenges such as limited rural digital infrastructure, insufficient digital skills among healthcare workers, governance hurdles, and fragmented digital platforms lacking interoperability. She also pointed to low digital literacy and gender disparities in technology access as significant barriers.
Public Health Specialist Dr. Lelin Choudhury urged youth to help build culturally aligned health services, emphasizing the importance of tailoring healthcare to local contexts for effective universal coverage.
The session featured a diverse panel including Dhaka University’s Dr. Rumana Haque, United International University’s Dr. Khondokar Abdullah-Al-Mamun, Health Sector Reform Commission members Professor Dr. Liaquat Ali and Dr. Abu Muhammad Zakir Hossain, alongside representatives from political and civic organizations. CPD Joint Director Avra Bhattacharjee moderated the discussion, which stressed youth empowerment as key to overcoming current healthcare digitalization challenges and advancing Bangladesh’s health sector reforms.
