A 17-member “national technical advisory committee” has been formed by the government which will help in combating the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
A notice was issued in this regard by the Directorate of Health Services (DGHS) on Saturday.
However, this move came 42 days after Bangladesh reported its first Covid-19 cases on March 8.
This special committee will not only provide guidance to the government in the fight against Covid-19, but will also advise them on how to build the capacity of doctors working on the frontlines and the initiatives needed to motivate them, while focusing on the research for a Covid-19 vaccine.
The committee is led by Prof Mohammod Shahidullah, a senior neonatologist, while Dr Meerjady Sabrina Flora, Director of Institute of Epidemiology Disease Control and Research (IEDCR), has been made the member-secretary of the panel.
The panel can exchange views with the public health expert committee that the government formed on March 28. It can also add new members if needed.
The panel includes Prof Nazrul Islam of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University; Prof AK Azad Khan of Bangladesh Diabetes Association; National Prof Dr Shahla Khatun, an obstetrics and gynaecologist; Mahmud Hasan, gastroenterologist and former VC of BSMMU; Dr Mustafa Jalal Mohiuddin, president of Bangladesh Medical Association (BMA) Prof Pran Gopal Dutta, ear-nose-throat specialist and former VC of BSMMU; Prof Iqbal Arslan, president of Swadhinata Chikitsak Parishad; Prof Rowshan Ara Begum, former president of The Obstetrical and Gynaecological Society of Bangladesh (OGSB); Dr Shams El Arefin, senior director of Maternal and Child Health Division of icddr,b; Dr A T M Khalilur Rahman, senior anaesthesiologist; Dr Quazi Tarikul Islam, a medicine specialist; Dr Md Humayun Sattar, professor at department of microbiology and immunology in BSMMU; Prof Mohammad Golam Mostafa, histopathology specialist at the at National Institute of Cancer Research and Hospital (NICRH); Prof Mahmudur Rahman, former director of IEDCR; and Prof Dr Md Abdul Mohit, a professor at the National Institute of Mental Health and Hospital.
As of Sunday, Bangladesh has confirmed 2,456 coronavirus cases with the death toll rising to 91 after seven new fatalities were reported.
The fast spreading Covid-19 has so far killed 161,000 people in more than 200 countries and territories.
