In a strange turn of events, health sector officials – who are usually eager to grab any opportunity to go abroad on state-sponsored trips – are now unwilling to leave the country, fearing that they might be transferred or made OSDs.
As funding deadlines near their end during the final few months of every fiscal, the officials of the Health Ministry and the health directorate hurry to get their names listed for sponsored trips to international seminars, symposiums and training courses.
However, following recent incidents, which saw senior health sector officials being transferred or made officers on special duty (OSD) while they were abroad, other officials are now unwilling to go on international trips fearing that they might lose their office, said sources within the health sector.
Seeking anonymity, several senior officials said that some of their colleagues had been enjoying trips abroad when they received the unexpected news that they had been reassigned.
The Health Ministry recently reshuffled the ranks among several directors and deputy directors, issuing orders for transfers and assigning OSDs.
Dr Md Shah Newaz, director (administration) of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), was reassigned as the director of Institute of Public Health and Nutrition (IPHN); while IPHN Director Dr Hedayetul Islam was made an OSD at the DGHS.
Both of them were reportedly attending a programme in China when the reshuffling was carried out. The two officials have since returned to the country and joined their new posts.
Sources said a deputy secretary of the Health Ministry, Humayun Kabir, was also on an international trip recently when he was transferred to a different ministry.
Other fresh reshuffles in the sector saw DGHS Director (finance) Dr Ehetashamul Hoque Chowdhury being made the new director of administration and DGHS Deputy Director Dr Md Ruhul Forkun Siddik being assigned as the new finance director.
Saruj Kumer Mojumder, director of National Institute of Preventive and Social Medicine (NIPSOM), was also transferred to Dhaka Medical College Hospital, while Dr Akterunnahar of the same institute was appointed as the new director of NIPSOM.
