State Minister for Health Dr. M A Muhit said restoring public confidence is the government’s main goal as it regularly monitors quality at hospitals and clinics. He made the remarks on Sunday afternoon as chief guest at a policy seminar organised by the Bangladesh Accreditation Board at the Bangladesh Institute of Management. He said the health sector cannot advance through hospitals and doctors alone.

Muhit called for attention to preventing food adulteration, ensuring accurate diagnosis and expanding preventive healthcare. He said cancers and serious kidney and liver diseases cannot be reduced without action in those areas. Bangladesh has more than 10,000 laboratories, but only a handful have international-standard accreditation, he said.

The minister said laboratory owners and boards should first be made aware rather than immediately subjected to coercion or strict legal measures. If owners understand that maintaining quality builds public trust and improves business prospects, they will seek accreditation themselves, he said. More internationally accredited laboratories could reduce repeated tests, time and extra costs for patients travelling abroad for treatment, while also saving foreign currency.