The Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) is going to take punitive actions against 12 health officials, who allegedly used millions in taxpayers’ money to go to Thailand for training but left without finishing a 90-day programme on bone marrow transplant .
All the doctors and technologists, who returned to Bangladesh 26 days prior to the completion of the training, would reportedly have to return Tk107,185 to the government treasury that had been given to them by the government as expense for accommodation and miscellaneous uses during the training.
As part of the disciplinary action, all of them would also be disallowed from participating in any foreign training for the next one and half years.
Dr Ruhul Forkan Siddique, DGHS coordinator for foreign training said the 12 officials would receive punitive measures after an inquiry committee had found the 12 officials guilty.
The decision to mete out financial punishment and suspension of foreign training privileges was made based on suggestions from legal department of the DGHS, Ruhul said.
Letters regarding the issue have reportedly been prepared, but could not be served to the 12 officials allegedly because of the health directorate DG had suddenly been changed.
Sources said under the in-service training operation plan 2011-2012, a 14-member team traveled to Thailand’s Eastern Asia University on August 26, 2012, to receive training on flow cytometry, stem cell counting and viability, clinical BMT, procedure protocol and follow-up complications.
All the trainees, except for two, returned to Bangladesh on October 26.
On December 2012, the health ministry formed a three-member probe committee, after receiving an allegation letter from the dean of School of Public Health in Eastern Asia University to the health secretary.
The committee submitted its report on March 10 last year before the ministry.
According to a copy of the report acquired by the Dhaka Tribune, the people accused of returning early could not present any valid reason for quitting the training prematurely.
However, the accused health officials told the probe committee that the Eastern Asia University lacked any BMT centre, or a haematology department or even a faculty of medicine. The officials also claimed that they had to face poor accommodation arrangements and substandard behaviour by the training coordinator.
