The country's public hospitals have been serving patients over three times their capacity, Health Minister Zahid Maleque said yesterday.

However, the health sector's share of the GDP is too little when compared to that of developed countries, the minister said while addressing a meeting on adoption and implementation of the Health Protection Act.

"While we are spending only 0.9 percent of our GDP for the health sector, developed countries have been spending five percent or more," Maleque said.

He mentioned how the health budget increased by 12 times over a span of 21 years. In 2000-2001 fiscal, the budget allocation was Tk 2,689 crore, while it is Tk 32,731 crore for 2021-2022. "But health budgets in developed countries are many times higher. If health insurance schemes can be adopted along with the Health Protection Act, it would be a groundbreaking progress for the health sector," he said.