Inventor of Orsaline Rafiqul Islam dies at 82

Dr Rafiqul Islam, the inventor of Orsaline, died at Apollo Hospital on Monday morning. He was 82. He was suffering from health complications due to old age. Information Officer Tariful Islam of the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research Bangladesh (ICDDR,B) confirmed his death. Dr Rafiqul Islam was born in Chauddagram upazila of Comilla district in 1936. He earned his MBBS degree from Dhaka Medical College, joined ICDDR,B in 1960, from where he retired in 2000. During his tenure in ICDDR,B, Dr Rafiqul invented several medicines, among which Orsaline was the most important. In the Liberation War of Bangladesh in 1971, a huge number of Bangladeshi refugees sought shelter in the Indian state of West Bengal. At that time, Dr Rafiqul facilitated the implementation of Orsaline to patients in refugee camps there and saved thousands of lives. After independence, the Bangladesh government formally recognized Orsaline. In 1980, Orsaline was approved by the World Health Organization (WHO). Eventually, Bangladeshi NGO Brac distributed Orsaline in the remotest areas of Bangladesh. Orsaline is credited with saving the lives of millions of children around the world. Renowned British medical journal The Lancet has called Orsaline the most important medical invention of the 20th century.This article was first published on banglatribune.com