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The Bangladesh healthcare system has improved by leaps and bounds over the past few decades. The country has outperformed many of its South-Asian neighbors and has been lauded for its achievements worldwide in reducing maternal, infant, and under-5 mortality rates (63% decrease in child death rate over 20 years)[17] , increasing vaccination coverage and increasing life expectancy at birth.[1]
Despite so many milestones, the shortage of doctors is quickly becoming one of the most pressing concerns for the country and has severely limited access to healthcare for all citizens.
The country currently has only 6 doctors for every 10,000 citizens.[2] This is extremely problematic because about 64% of the population resides in rural areas and thus has to travel very long distances for access to healthcare services.[3]
Moreover, due to this shortage, people are facing very long queues at healthcare facilities and getting very little time for each appointment.
With most divisions having major vacancies, Dhaka has 43% more doctors than total posts. This suggests that our healthcare system is heavily focused on the capital while most places go underserved.
Telemedicine allows healthcare professionals to evaluate, diagnose and treat patients in remote locations using telecommunications technology. This practice has reduced costs and time and has saved lives.
As a result, the global telemedicine market has been growing rapidly for the past few years and promises future growth according to multiple industry estimates with an estimated CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) of about 15.1% up to 2027.[7]
The telemedicine market is a subset of the greater telehealth market. Although there is a promise for rapid growth, North America alone accounted for around 60.3% of the total Telehealth market in 2019 and is forecasted to stay the leader for at least up to 2025. However, during this period, the Asian market is forecasted to grow the fastest.[5]
Telemedicine practices began in Bangladesh through the Center for Rehabilitation of Paralyzed (CRP) with the funding of the Swinfen Charitable Trust of the UK in 1999. This ushered some other projects that relied on technology and telecom services to reach patients.
| Organization | Operation Summary |
| Center for Rehabilitation of Paralyzed (CRP) | 1. Uses store and forward based Telemedicine 2. Digital camera is used for capturing images 3. No real-time technology is used 4. Indoor patients are free for Telemedicine and outdoor patients need 1000 taka for consultation. 5. No Storage of Patient Data |
| Telemedicine Reference Center Limited (TRCL) | 1. Telemedicine services between Bangladeshi physicians and the United States 2. Used Icare software 3. Internet is used for the service |
| Sustainable Development Network Program (SDNP) | 1. VSAT is used for this project 2. Connected different nodes of Bangladesh. 3. Different consultancy and diagnostic support are given |
| BUET and Comfort Nursing Home | 1. Uses store and forward based Telemedicine 2. This project was running for a short period of time. |
| Bangladesh DNS diagnoses Centre, and Comfort Diagnoses & Nursing Home | 1. This project was discontinuous for financial reasons 2. Lack of promotional activities found 3. Patient disinterest also observed |
| DAB and Faridpur General Hospital | 1. Hardware failure was found in this project 2. Internet connection was disrupted 3. Power failure was frequent 4. Performance of the camera used was not satisfactory 5. Radio link was used for Internet connectivity 6. 600 taka was the fee for consultation |
| Mobile Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health (MNCH) BRAC | 1. Slum people are the beneficiary of this project 2. Patient data is stored in the BRAC data center for further use and treatment plan 3. Limited cost for the service 4. Android phone is used for information entry and update |
Although some of these efforts gained initial success, they eventually lost customers to traditional hospitals and healthcare services.
There are multiple opinions about why these initial efforts did not work out. Some of the most credible ones are:
Both government and Non-Government projects are active in delivering telemedicine to patients all over the country.
Under the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), high-quality telemedicine services have been established at 2 specialized hospitals (Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University and National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases), 3 district hospitals (Shatkhira, Nilphamari, and Gopalganj) and 3 sub-district hospitals (Pirgonj, Dakope, and Debhata).
Additionally, webcams have been given in each sub-district, district, medical college, and post-graduate institute hospitals
The service enables patients admitted at districts and sub-district levels to take advice and suggestions from specialists through telephone and webcam services.[11]
As time has progressed, internet reach and smartphone use in Bangladesh have increased and that has eventually made the ecosystem better and more accessible for both service providers and customers.
Access to the internet has grown by around 19% per year since 2012 and so has the access to smartphones.[8] This has enabled more businesses to roll out smartphone specific offerings and create a market for themselves.
Access to telecommunication services has grown significantly too over time. This has made providing service over phones more convenient and easier. With increased coverage and customer base, there is ample opportunity for telemedicine services to excel in the current business environment.
The E-health segment is currently regarded as a good prospect for investors in the country. Primary research from Lightcastle suggests that it stands 3rd in the list of most preferred investment segments in the country with preference from 67% of investors.
There are multiple startups operating in the segment in the country at the moment and although they have different niches, most of them have managed to establish a trusted network and are currently working for creating more customer awareness. Here is a summary of their activities:
Among these startups, Doctorola is backed by BD Venture[14] and Maya has also received a total funding of USD 178,500 from different investors.[15]
The government has recently increased its focus on funding tech projects with the ICT ministry funding around 40 in 2019. But there is much room for improvement in these steps by the government. Improving these would also translate to the healthcare ecosystem eventually.
Although privacy is one of the major concerns, only time will tell whether or not people will be able to trust these services with their sensitive data.
Although the higher-income class can be expected to adapt quickly, lower and middle-income groups might take some time to catch up to these new methods. But, given the recent success of other tech-based startups, it can be safely inferred that technological literacy is on the rise in the country and it is only a matter of time before telemedicine services gain popularity because of their ease of access and lower costs.
Most of these services have started in the urban market. Therefore, the main long-term challenge for the telemedicine industry in Bangladesh will be to expand to remote areas and bring healthcare to the people that are the most deprived.
Eqra Mohammad Resalat Ohee, Content Writer at LightCastle Partners, has prepared the write-up. For further clarifications, contact here: [email protected].
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