DHAKA : A special campaign is being taken to make mothers aware of family planning aiming to curb the population growth rate, Health and Family Welfare Minister Sardar Md Sakhawat Husain said today.

He said the country's population growth rate has reached about 3 percent for the last 10 to 15 years, which is worrying. 

“To reduce this rate to a tolerable level, the government will launch a strong birth control campaign nationwide. The availability of birth control products at the rural level will be restored,” he said.

The health minister made the remarks while speaking as the chief guest at the inaugural ceremony of 'Sustaining Play, Learning and in Humanitarian Contexts' organised by BRAC and LEGO Foundation at Sonargaon Hotel in the capital this morning.

Stating that modern pathological labs will be set up in upazila hospitals this year to diagnose diseases correctly and alleviate the suffering of the commoners, he said, "We are going to set up modern pathological laboratories in every hospital this year and we will import the necessary equipments this month." 

In addition, Sakhawat Husain said 50 beds are being arranged in the District Medical College Hospital, 10 dialysis beds in the district hospital and 10 dialysis beds in the upazila-level hospital to provide dialysis services to the country’s people.

Drawing a comparative picture of the continuous development of the country's health sector, he said Shaheed President Ziaur Rahman established 31-bed hospital in every upazila to ensure medical services to the common people of Bangladesh.

Later, he said, Deshnetri Begum Khaleda Zia, as the guardian of the country's 18 crore people, turned those 31-bed hospitals into 50-bed hospitals." 

In continuation of that, currently each upazila hospital is being modernised to 101 beds under the visionary leadership of Prime Minister Tarique Rahman, he said.