Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2004, published 93rd ILC session (2005)

Nursing Personnel Convention, 1977 (No. 149) - Bangladesh (Ratification: 1979)

The Committee notes the Government’s report and wishes to draw attention to the following points.

Article 3, paragraph 1, of the Convention. The Committee has been requesting the Government for some time past to specify whether regulations have been issued under section 19(2) of the Bangladesh Nursing Council Ordinance, 1983 to lay down the basic requirements for nursing education and training. In successive reports, the Government has referred to the basic nursing syllabus, course outlines and training curriculum used by public and private nursing institutions and has indicated that all relevant texts have been communicated to the Office. Regrettably, the Committee notes that no such texts have ever been appended to the reports received and therefore asks the Government to include in its next report fully documented information on the requirements regarding nursing education and training prescribed under the Nursing Council Ordinance, 1983.

Article 6. The Committee recalls its previous comment in which it expressed concern about the information that most private clinics do not comply with the conditions of employment of nurses applicable in the public sector. In the absence of any further information in the Government’s report on this point, the Committee is obliged to refer to Article 1, paragraph 2, of the Convention which provides that the Convention applies to all nursing personnel, wherever they work, and asks the Government to provide specific information on the working conditions and entitlements of nurses employed in the private sector in respect of pay, working time and social security, as compared to those enjoyed by the nursing personnel working in public institutions.

In addition, the Committee notes the Government’s statement that the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare is taking steps for increasing the pay scale of nursing officers and creating new posts, while a Human Resource Management Programme is under way to revise the job description of all categories of health personnel. The Committee would appreciate receiving additional information on the outcome of these measures including the new remuneration levels for health-care workers once they are established.

Article 7. Further to its previous comment concerning the need to upgrade the occupational health and safety standards in the working environment of nursing personnel, the Committee notes the Government’s indication that a programme has been developed on prevention and protection of nurses from various infectious diseases and that awareness has been raised among nurses with regard to precautionary measures and personal safety. The Government also refers to Hospital Improvement Initiative (HII) programmes carried out in selected hospitals with the aim of creating safe working environment for hospital personnel including proper disposal of hospital waste. The Committee requests the Government to provide more detailed information on the implementation of these programmes and the practical results obtained so far and also to report on any new developments or initiatives on these matters.

Part V of the report form. The Committee notes that according to the Government’s report there are at present approximately 19,800 registered nurses, of whom 12,689 are employed in public hospitals and health-care institutes. The Government further indicates that there are almost twice as many doctors as nurses in the health sector, the ratio being 1.8 to 1, while the ratio of nurses in relation to the overall population is 1 to 8,000. As regards the situation prevailing among the Directorate of Nursing Services (DNS), which is responsible for enforcing and implementing the provisions of the Convention, and nursing personnel employed in the private sector, the Committee notes that some contact has been established in a limited scale through the Nursing Education and Practice Network Programme at the divisional level which offers the opportunity for periodical meetings and exchange of views. While expressing the hope that such constructive dialogue will continue, the Committee requests the Government to provide additional information on the abovementioned programme. It also requests the Government to continue to supply information on the application of the Convention in practice, including for instance statistics on the number of nurses currently employed in both the public and private sectors or the number of students attending nursing schools, measures to remedy the shortage of nursing personnel and also the imbalance in the nurse to physicians ratio, official reports (e.g. annual reports of the DNS) addressing labour and employment issues related to the nursing profession, as well as any practical difficulties encountered in the implementation of the Convention.