Dhaka, May 5 -- The Health Sector Reform Commission on Monday unveiled its report recommending the inclusion of primary healthcare as a basic right in the constitution, providing free primary healthcare, allocation of 15 percent of the national budget for the health sector and formation of a permanent health commission.

The commission also recommended formation of the Bangladesh Health Service, recruitment of primary care physicians by establishing primary healthcare centres in rural and urban areas, free supply of essential drugs at the primary level and at subsidised prices in other cases, and shutting down substandard medical education institutes.

The report was unveiled at a press conference at Foreign Service Academy in the capital...