Lakshmipur, a district of about 2 million people has no government Institute of Health Technology (IHT) even as its healthcare infrastructure keeps growing. This raises a pressing question: why hasn't technical training kept pace with hospital expansion?
According to the 2022 census the Lakshmipur's population stands at 2,037,948. Government health data shows the district has one district hospital four upazila health complexes, a 20-bed hospital and 180 community clinics. Alongside these 150 private consultancy and diagnostic centres operate across its five upazilas 80 in Lakshmipur Sadar alone offering lab tests, radiology and imaging services.
All these facilities need trained technologists in fields like medical laboratory science, radiology and physiotherapy. Yet Lakshmipur has no local institute to train them. Government IHTs currently exist in districts such as Chattogram, Barishal, Rajshahi and Rangpur but not in Lakshmipur.
This gap forces local students to travel elsewhere for health technology education, adding financial strain for those from poor and lower-middle-income families. In the 2026 SSC exams 13,410 students from Lakshmipur appeared with 8,570 passing though separate data for science students isn't publicly available.
An IHT does more than educate it builds the skilled workforce hospitals depend on for diagnostics. However, consolidated data on vacant and filled medical technologist posts in Lakshmipur isn't available in one place also making it hard to measure the exact shortage.
Setting up a government IHT locally could open career paths for students especially women in laboratory technology, radiology and physiotherapy while strengthening the district's healthcare workforce from within.
Experts are now calling for a feasibility study to evaluate establishing an IHT in Lakshmipur considering its population size with existing infrastructure and the large number of diagnostic centres. The proposal suggests starting with medical laboratory technology, radiology and physiotherapy programmes then expanding into other disciplines.
If a district needing a hospital of four upazila health complexes and 150 diagnostic centres can exist and it should also have an institution to train the technologists who run them. The demand for a Lakshmipur IHT isn't just about education it's about better healthcare, skilled jobs, women's employment and the district's long-term medical capacity.
