The two-day conference in a declaration known as 'Dhaka Declaration' also called for raising the budget allocation for health sector from present 6.60 percent to 25 percent.

The declaration demanded a modern health service management system removing irregularities and eradicating corruption through medical audit and accountability.

It also called for ensuring medical ethics among the service providers and medical centres so that all citizens especially the poor and middle class people would have easy access to health services.

At the same time, upazila and district level hospitals should be equipped and provided with more facilities, beds, medicines and manpower, said the declaration.

It also called for a drug policy containing state commitment to provide safe, quality and essential drugs within the people's purchasing capacity.

Speaking as chief guest at the concluding session, Prof Muzaffer Ahmed, chairman of Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB), said health rights is not the right to get health service only, it is the total rights of people for sound health.

" Health service management should be developed to ensure quality health service," he said, adding a medical geography is needed as the disease pattern varies in different areas of the country.

Prof Muzaffer said health includes food free from adulteration, food habit and disease prevention mechanisms along with proper health service and awareness among people.

Highlighting the present discriminatory situation in health sector and shabby condition of upazila hospitals and union level medical centres, the speakers said it should be improved to ensure health rights of people.

Besides, medical jurisprudence or forensic medicine is very important to go for legal battles against the violators of people's health rights which is also a part of human rights, they added.

Presided over by Prof Rashid-E-Mahbub, former president of Bangladesh Medical Association (BMA), the concluding session was also addressed by Dr Nitai Kanti Das and Executive Director of PSTC Milon Bikash Pal.

Mahmud Hasan read out the declaration paper.

The two-day conference was organised by Health Research and Rights Foundation and Population Services and Training Centre (PSTC) along with 52 other organisations working to protect people's health rights with the slogan 'Health is not an opportunity, it is people's rights and should be made available to all on the basis of equity' at Biam auditorium in the city.