Govt reviewing proposal to increase medical college admission seats: Sakhawat

The government is reviewing the possibility of increasing MBBS admission seats at medical colleges, taking into account existing infrastructure, teacher availability and clinical facilities at individual institutions, Health and Family Welfare Minister Sardar Md Sakhawat Husain told parliament today (7 September).

He made the remarks while responding to a question from Madaripur-2 lawmaker Md Jahander Ali Miha during the question-answer session.

At present, 105 government and private medical colleges across the country have a total of 11,378 MBBS seats. Of these, 37 government medical colleges have 5,100 seats, while 68 private medical colleges have 6,278 seats.

Information presented in parliament also showed that government hospitals have around 71,660 approved beds, while the number of beds at private hospitals and clinics changes regularly depending on the capacity and registration status of individual facilities.

The government also plans to gradually convert all 50-bed upazila health complexes into modern 151-bed hospitals to expand healthcare at the upazila level. The upgraded facilities will have 25 beds for pregnant women and mothers, 20 beds for children, and 10 dialysis beds and machines for kidney patients, along with an intensive care unit and physiotherapy services.

Administrative approval has been given, and recruitment has begun for 5,000 doctors and 2,500 nurses to staff the expanded services, the minister added.