Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen has suggested that the children of expatriate Bangladeshis be brought under a digital birth registration system.
The minister was speaking at the inception seminar of the project “Establishing digital birth and death notification system and capacity building in health system for strengthening EPI and CRVS in Bangladesh”, held at Dhaka’s Krishibid Institute on Tuesday.
He said around 12 million Bangladeshis are living abroad and have children, and he hopes his suggestion will be considered.
The project will cover training and capacity building of upazila nurses and doctors, software customization and development, data collection, and create awareness about digital birth and death notification system in eight upazilas of the country till July 2020.
The selected upazilas are Pirgacha, Daudkandi, Dacope, Singair, Nalchity, Muktagacha, Madhabpur, and Sujanagar.
Professor Dr Abul Kalam Azad, director general of Directorate of General Health Service (DGHS), said registration within 45 days of birth will help the government know exactly how many children exist in Bangladesh.
“It will bring a positive change in child healthcare if all children are registered,” he said.
“The age breakdown of the children will help us purchase the exact amount of vaccines needed. Then we won’t be short on vaccines or buy more than we need,” he added.
Professor Dr Syed Modasser Ali, president of Community Clinic Health Support Trustee Board, said the people of this country have a tendency to register deaths only when they need it for inheritance purposes.
MA Mubin Khan, managing director of Ethics Advance Technology Ltd, said policy making is significantly easier and more effective if there is an accurate count of births and deaths.
Prime Minister’s Office Director General Neelufar Ahmed, Joint Chief (Planning) of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare Dr AE Md Mohiuddin Osmani, Additional Secretary of the Cabinet Division AK Mohiuddin Ahmad, Director General of Bangladesh Bureau of Educational Information and Statistics (BANBEIS) Md Fashidullah and Registrar General Manik Lal Banik were also present at the seminar.