One Lakh Health Workers Being Recruited, 80 Percent of Them Women: Zubaida Rahman
The government is recruiting one lakh (100,000) health workers, 80 percent of whom will be women. Dr Zubaida Rahman, vice-president of the Ziaur Rahman Foundation and wife of Prime Minister Tarique Rahman, shared the information on Saturday (14 November) at a programme in a hotel in Dhaka's Gulshan marking the 12th anniversary of the research institute Institute for Developing Science and Health Initiatives (IDESHI).
Zubaida Rahman said that because of years of neglect in the health sector, preventive measures against disease were never properly encouraged. As a result, millions of women in more than 90,000 villages across Bangladesh now suffer from diseases that are easily preventable. The present government has placed special emphasis on disease prevention to change this situation, she said.
She said the one lakh health workers being recruited will help carry these preventive measures to the people. Delivering this knowledge of prevention to every doorstep requires research, experimentation and trust — and IDESHI has been doing exactly this work for the past 12 years.
Stressing preventive healthcare as the way to build a healthy Bangladesh, she said a strong partnership must be built among preventive healthcare, scientific research, research institutions, universities and the pharmaceutical industry. The new workers will play an important role in taking the message of preventive healthcare to people in remote areas across the country, she noted.
'Collective hard work by everyone is needed to build this populous country as a healthy and strong Bangladesh,' she said. She congratulated IDESHI founder and chief Dr Firdausi Qadri and the institute's scientists and staff for their dedication and contribution.
Noting that the present government is encouraging the country's young people to engage in science, innovation and technology, Dr Zubaida said, 'We need more scientists. We hope that through research into our own problems, their solutions and prevention, we will achieve significant progress in the health sector and hold our heads high with honour before the world.'
For that, however, patient cooperation, sincere partnership and dedicated work by the government, research-based universities and the pharmaceutical industry are necessary, she remarked.
Addressing young scientists, she said they may feel somewhat frustrated by the slow pace of research work, but they should feel proud that their work is helping countless people live healthy lives. She expressed hope that IDESHI will achieve more success in the coming years in advancing science and technology in Bangladesh and bringing smiles to helpless people in remote villages.
Dr S M Ziauddin Hyder, special assistant to the Prime Minister on health affairs, spoke at the programme as special guest, and Professor Dr Provat Chandra Biswas, director general of the Directorate General of Health Services, spoke as guest of honour.
Dr Ziauddin Hyder said the present government led by Prime Minister Tarique Rahman has planned to build a healthcare system where disease prevention, detection of diseases before they turn fatal, and quality medical care for every citizen will be ensured. The government is giving special importance to five areas, he said.
Those areas are: strengthening research in disease prevention and health security; reinforcing primary healthcare as the foundation of the health system; expanding innovation in the pharmaceutical industry, biotechnology and indigenously developed diagnostic systems; advancing the use of digital healthcare and artificial intelligence; and creating a sustainable environment for health research and development.
At the programme, IDESHI founder and chief Dr Firdausi Qadri presented a paper titled 'Challenges and Realities of Scientific Research Institutions: The IDESHI Context'. The institute's chairman Ashfaq Qadri delivered the welcome address, and chief operating officer Dr Md Rafiqur Rahman presented a documentary on IDESHI's journey.
Panel discussions were held on five topics: 'Thalassaemia Screening', 'Women's Health', 'The Future of Biologicals in Bangladesh', 'Infectious Diseases' and 'Use of Vaccines in Improving Public Health'. Specialist physicians and public health experts in the respective fields took part in the discussions.
