Social Welfare Minister Professor Dr Zahid Hossain said no one would be left without treatment because of a lack of money in a future humane Bangladesh led by Prime Minister Tarique Rahman. He made the remarks on Monday as chief guest at a World Head and Neck Cancer Day 2026 event at the National Institute of Ear, Nose and Throat in Tejgaon, Dhaka.

The observance, marked in 171 countries, carried the theme, “Speak Out, Diagnose Early, Save Lives.” The minister said the government was committed to overall development as well as the health system, and that pledges in the BNP election manifesto would be implemented gradually. He also urged journalists to raise public awareness that people who are mute and deaf can recover.

At the event, Hossain inaugurated a newly built Auditory Verbal Therapy Centre. Children who have lost hearing from birth or later and receive costly cochlear implantation surgery with Social Welfare Ministry support will be taught to speak naturally through therapy at the centre, which is run under the Health Ministry. The minister said he planned to expand such centres to divisional level. He later distributed grant cheques and devices to patients with head and neck-related illnesses.