Bangladesh’s national teleconsultation service, Shastho Batayan, is stumbling as the government’s contract with its private service provider expired nearly two months ago, and many phone calls are going unanswered.
Accessible through the 16263 hotline, the round-the-clock service enables citizens across the country to consult doctors and receive health information and advice free of charge over the phone.
Since its launch in 2015, Shastho Batayan has handled more than 2.72 crore calls until June 24 this year, providing a vital healthcare lifeline to countless people, particularly those in remote and underserved areas.
The crisis has deepened as the service provider, Synesis IT, says it has not received payments for the past 22 months, forcing it to slash manpower by half and raising fears over the future of one of the country’s most widely used free health services.
While Shastho Batayan typically receives between 5,000 and 6,000 calls on average a day, its reduced workforce now allows it to answer only around 3,000 to 3,500 calls, leaving thousands of callers without assistance.
The service proved indispensable during the Covid-19 pandemic, when it emerged as a critical channel for remote medical consultation at a time when access to hospitals and clinics was severely disrupted.
The hotline received more than 1.09 crore phone calls during the pandemic.
“We are in trouble and do not know how long we will be able to continue the service,” said Shohorab Ahmed Chowdhury, managing director of Synesis IT, which has been providing the service since its launch.
After the latest contract expired on April 30, the company sought a one-year extension. The Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) proposed a six-month extension, and the proposal is still awaiting approval from the health ministry.
Shohorab, however, said such an extension would be inadequate as the tendering process for a new contract usually takes eight to 10 months.
“Even if the extension is approved now, nearly two months have already passed. That would leave only around four months of effective operation before another gap emerges,” he said.
Shastho Batayan was launched under the e-health operational plan of the Management Information System (MIS) of DGHS. The free service offers doctor consultations, health information and ambulance-related information.
Doctors listen to patients’ complaints and send prescriptions directly to their phones. Until recently, around 100 MBBS-qualified doctors and 25 health information officers hired by the service provider provided the service on a roster basis.
In April, the call centre received 1.97 lakh calls, including 1.16 lakh calls for doctors’ consultancy. The number came down to 1.82 lakh, including 1.06 lakh calls for doctor consultancy, in May, exposing the impact of manpower cuts.
Last year, it received 23,46,773 calls, while the total number of calls this year as of June 24 stood at 10,43,446, shows the official data of the service.
Rezaul Karim, a private sector employee and regular user of the service, said he last availed the service two months ago.
“It is a very good service, especially because you can get care at any time. If I had to seek the same treatment at an outside hospital, it would take much more time, and of course, it would cost money as well,” he said.
Another user, Mithu Halder, said he received their services thrice in the last year.
When informed about the uncertainty over the continuation of the service, he said: “It would be a big setback for thousands of people like us. It is a reliable service and the government should continue it at any cost.”
The problem arose after June 2024, when the tenure of the fourth Health, Population and Nutrition Sector Programme (HPNSP), also known as the operational plan under which the service was funded, expired.
The interim government scrapped the proposed fifth programme in March 2025, creating a funding gap.
Although a project was approved in December last year to complete the unfinished tasks of the fourth HPNSP and the service was incorporated, the project is yet to start rolling as its project director was appointed only earlier this month.
In the meantime, the service providers did not receive their monthly payments for 22 months, leaving around Tk 14 crore in dues.
The situation deteriorated as the contract with the service provider ended in April.
Shohorab said they had been pursuing the matter with the DGHS for over a year, as the tendering process for the service -- being an intellectual or consultancy-based one -- takes a long time to complete, but to no avail.
No tendering process has yet begun, but following the change in government and subsequent changes in the DGHS leadership, the new administration decided to extend the contract for six months, The Daily Star has learnt from DGHS officials involved with the proceedings.
The DGHS has sent the file to the health minister for approval in the last week of April.
“But the extension has not yet been approved,” Shohorab told this correspondent on June 23.
Meanwhile, the company has cut its manpower by 40 to 50 percent after April, he said.
“Although we have not been paid by the government for 22 months, we still have to pay salaries to doctors and other staff. I have had to take bank loans to pay their salaries. We have kept the service intact as it is a national issue.”
But after the expiry of the contract and amid uncertainty over its extension, Synesis IT was forced to cut its manpower by 40 to 50 percent, he added.
Contacted, Abu Ahammad Al Mamun, director (MIS) of DGHS, said they are working to keep this vital service operational and have already sent a proposal to the health ministry seeking an extension of the current contract.
“The proposal is now awaiting approval,” he said, adding that a fresh procurement process is expected to be initiated next month.
He said they could not clear the dues of the service provider for various reasons but hoped the provider would receive the payments from the budget of the next fiscal year.
Replying to a question, Al Mamun said the tendering process for appointing a new service provider is expected to begin in July, as the component has already been incorporated into a project.
Contacted, Health Secretary M Quamruzzaman Chowdhury said they were aware of the problem and hoped to resolve it soon.
When this correspondent mentioned that the extension proposal had remained pending with the minister for around two months, he said: “This is not supposed to happen. I will look into the matter.”
