The government has significantly increased the allocation for the health sector in the proposed national budget for the 2026-2027 fiscal year, which is a positive step toward improving public health.
For a long time, the health sector's share of the national budget stagnated around 5 percent. For the first time, it has been proposed to increase this allocation to 7.4 percent of the total national budget. The proposed health allocation is also equivalent to 1.01 percent of the country's GDP, up from just 0.58 percent in the previous fiscal year. However, the key challenge now is to ensure that this increased allocation is invested in the most pressing public health priorities.
Currently, non-communicable diseases (NCDs) account for 71 percent of all deaths in Bangladesh. Despite this enormous burden, only 4.2 percent of the total health budget is allocated to NCD control. According to the Health and Morbidity Status Survey 2025 by Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS), hypertension ranks as the leading disease among the country's top ten diseases. Hypertension is one of the most significant risk factors for heart disease, stroke, kidney disease, and several other NCDs. According to the World Health Organization's 2025 report, 283,800 people died from cardiovascular diseases in Bangladesh in 2024, with hypertension responsible for 52 percent of these deaths.
Research shows that every 1 taka invested in hypertension screening and treatment yields an overall return of 18 taka. However, due to inadequate budget allocation, it has not been possible to ensure an uninterrupted supply of anti-hypertensive medicines at all primary healthcare facilities across the country.
Responding to the proposed budget, ABM Zubair, Executive Director, PROGGA said, “A significant portion of the increased health budget should be invested in addressing hypertension and other non-communicable diseases. In particular, ensuring the availability of hypertension medicines at all grassroots-level healthcare facilities would substantially reduce the burden of non-communicable diseases.”