Improving Private Health Care Data Collection in Bangladesh

Improving Private Health Care Data Collection in Bangladesh
Cover image
Abstract: Health care is data intensive. Each transaction between a service-seeker and a health care provider generates data as a by-product. Routinely collected health data from the public and private sectors are essential for understanding health trends. Decision-makers need these data to develop appropriate health policies, allocate resources, and prioritize interventions. The recent COVID-19 pandemic exposed health systems to new challenges illustrating the need and relevance of timely and accurate data from all sectors to make informed decisions (WHO, 2020). While government agencies responsible for managing health care collect routine public health data on a regular basis, there is often a lack of systematic and regulated mechanisms for collecting data from the private sector, even though the private sector plays an important and often dominant role in health service delivery in many lower- and middle-income countries. This brief focuses on the need for data collection from the private sector and nongovernmental organizations within a comprehensive national health information system in Bangladesh and offers recommendations to achieve this.
Shortname: fs-21-517-d4i
Author(s): Md. Humayun Kabir
Year: 2021
Language: English
Region(s): BANGLADESH