Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday urged the physicians in pubic service to restrain from excessive private practice.

"...You need to think how much pressure you can take... it's quite natural to lose temper when you're doing government job all day long and then going for private practice at night," she said.

The prime minister said this while inaugurating the National Institute of Advanced Nursing Education and Research (NIANER), the only institute in the country set to provide higher education on nursing, in the capital's Mugda area.

"We've raised the salaries and allowances in government jobs... we've increased it by 123 percent," she said.

Hasina, however, said the number of patients in the country, compared to the number of doctors and nurses, is very high.

"I won't blame you (doctors and nurses)… we've got a huge population… you have to take so much pressure...so, it's very tough to control temper," she said.

Hasina said the attitude of providing services to patients is the key aspect of medical service. "Half the patients feel better when doctors and nurses talk to them politely and with sympathy."

She mentioned that sincerity and responsibility are essential in providing medical services to patients.

The prime minister also pointed out the problems of diagnosis in medical services in Bangladesh and said the incidents of wrong diagnosis are there.

Stressing the importance of creating skilled hands in this field, she said, "You just tell us what we need to do...we'll do the rest."

Hasina said it will not be possible to prevent the patients from going to Singapore, Bangkok and India without having a proper diagnosis system in place in the country. "If they can, why can't we? This question crosses my mind repeatedly..."

She asked all concerned to gather relevant experience and strength for providing better medical treatment to patients.

Talking about the just-launched Bangabandhu Satellite-1, she said, "We've uplifted our position in the world as an independent country."

Hasina said, "This satellite will be very useful in education, entertainment and healthcare, and it will be used during various natural calamities for gathering information."

Chaired by Health and Family Welfare Minister Mohammad Nasim, the programme was addressed, among others, by State Minister for Health and Family Welfare Zahid Maleque, lawmaker Saber Hossain Chowdhury, Vice President for Global Partnership of KOICA Kyunghoon Sul, and Secretary M Sirajul Huq Khan.