With food adulteration becoming a major health concern across the country, the Institute of Public Health (IPH) is planning to introduce graduate and postgraduate courses that will enable students to learn about health technology and be better prepared to tackle the crisis.
The Health Ministry has already given permission to the IPH for introducing BSc courses for the disciplines of health technology (laboratory science) and health technology (food safety) along with courses for the Master’s of Public Health (MPH) degree.
IPH sources said the institute will initially start by admitting 30 students next January under the four-year undergraduate programme in health technology (laboratory science). The other two programmes will be introduced later.
The IPH has submitted a request to the Health Ministry for creating over 100 posts for teachers and other staffs; budget allocation will also soon be sought from the ministry.
IPH Director Dr Subimal Sinha Choudhury said the initiative to introduce the health courses had been taken a couple of years ago.
In November 2012, the ministry gave permission to the IPH for opening three programmes, while in February this year, the Dhaka University gave approval for starting classes for the laboratory science courses. The DU authority also made recommendations including suggesting the course curriculum for the food safety discipline before giving approval for the other BSc programme.
Abdul Hannan, a former director of the IPH, had earlier told the Dhaka Tribune that the IPH should be more determined to introduce the BSc in food safety programme as soon as possible because food adulteration has become a serious health concern.
The IPH has also sought the affiliation of BSMMU to introduce a one-year MPH programme; but BSSMU’s director of college inspection, Dr Abu Shafi Ahmed Amin, said the process would take more time.
