Social Welfare Minister Prof Dr AZM Zahid Hossain today assured that no helpless or underprivileged person would be deprived of medical treatment due to financial constraints during the tenure of the BNP government. The minister made the remarks while addressing a programme as the chief guest on the occasion of the World Head and Neck Cancer Day 2026 at the National Institute of Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) in Tejgaon. This year's theme for the day was "Speak Up, Detect Early, Save Lives", as stated in an official handout. The minister highlighted that people with speech and hearing impairments can recover through proper treatment and urged journalists to raise public awareness about the disease.
Earlier, the minister inaugurated the hospital's newly established Auditory Verbal Therapy (AVT) Centre. Children who are born with hearing impairment or lose their hearing later in life, and for whom no other treatment is effective, receive costly cochlear implant surgery with support from the Ministry of Social Welfare. Following surgery, they will receive therapy at the AVT Centre, operated under the Ministry of Health, to help them develop normal speech and communication skills. The minister also expressed the government's intention to expand AVT centres to the divisional level across the country.
After the programme, the Social Welfare Minister distributed financial assistance cheques and assistive devices among patients suffering from various head and neck diseases. Special guests at the event included former principal of Mymensingh Medical College Prof Dr Md Monwar Hossain, Principal of Dhaka Medical College Prof. Dr. Mazharul Shaheen, and President of the Bangladesh Society for Head and Neck Surgeons Prof. Dr. Md. Abdus Sattar, with Director of the National Institute of Ear, Nose and Throat Prof. Dr. Md. Hasan Zafar in the chair.
