USAID's AUHC activity, SHN panel discussion held

Women in the country's health sector were acclaimed for their contribution to empowering women and opening more space.
USAID's AUHC activity and Surjer Hashi Network (SHN) jointly organised a panel discussion at a city hotel on Tuesday to celebrate the contribution of women leaders in Bangladesh's health sector.

Some female leaders, who made contributions to the healthcare sector, were honoured on the occasion. The awardees were - managers of different branches of Surjer Hashi clinic - Rikta Roy, Rowshan Ara Khanom, Rebeka Sultana, Afsana Khatun and Sultana Begum.

Dr. Farhana Akhter, Project Management Specialist - USAID Office of Population, Health and Nutrition, said, "It is indeed impactful to see 50 years since the independence - when women and children have healthcare services in their community for the first time."

Lot more works have to be done. It is exciting to see USAID, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, community, and the government agencies are cooperating with each other to develop the health service sector more precisely, she added.
SHN Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Shaila Purvin said the contribution of women is immense, which can be observed not only in SHN but in Bangladesh's overall healthcare sector.

Pulse Digital Healthcare CEO Rubaba Dowla said women have to sacrifice something at some point, as it is not always possible to have a 50-50 balance - between family and work - in life.

"The second thing is I want to give equal opportunity (to men and women). But where is the pipeline? If I hire, I want equal number of applicants. But against one woman there are more than 10 men applicants. So we have to work for the pipeline from the school level."

Women need to do networking, and look at how men are networking. So women must build networks and maintain those, she added.