3,000 doctors to be recruited soon
PM tells BMA meeting, opens Saarc Medical Association
Unb, Dhaka
Some 3,000 physicians will be recruited through a special Bangladesh Civil Service (BCS) examination as the government wants to post one doctor in each of the unions of the country, Prime Minister (PM) Khaleda Zia announced yesterday.The PM made the announcement while inaugurating the 18th medical conference and annual general meeting of Bangladesh Medical Association (BMA) at the Bangladesh-China Friendship Conference Centre (BFCC). Addressing physicians, she said the government has created 3,176 posts of physicians to recruit one doctor for each union to fulfil the ruling BNP's election commitment to ensure health service to rural people at grassroots level. Khaleda Zia, the current South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) chairperson, also inaugurated Saarc Medical Association devoted to strengthening regional cooperation to provide better healthcare for some 1.5 billion people of South Asia. Professor MA Hadi, the founder-president of the Saarc Medical Association, handed over the charter of the association to the PM. The PM informed the function that formulating a new Health Policy is at the final stages. The initiative was taken to amend the previously formulated Health Policy to protect public interest and professional interest of physicians. Health Minister Dr Khandokar Mosharraf Hossain, State Minister Mizanur Rahman Sinha, BMA president Prof MA Hadi and its secretary general Dr AZM Zahid Hossain as well as on behalf of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) Medical Association Dr Sanjiv Malik, president of the Indian Medical Association, Dr Naifa Affet, representative of physicians of the Maldives, Dr Kiran Prasad Shrestha, general secretary of Nepal Medical Association, Dr Umar Ayub Khan, president of Pakistan Medical Association, Dr Maximumus Fernandopulle, senior council member of Sri Lanka Medical Association, and Dr Guru Prasad Dhakal, representative of physicians of Bhutan, among others, also addressed the inaugural function Three late physicians were adjudged posthumously for BMA gold medal-2005 for their outstanding performances in different disciplines of medicine. The award-recipients are Shaheed Dr Mohammad Fazle Rabbi for his contribution in medical education and health service, Dr Md Faridul Huda for his contribution in the Liberation War and Prof Sultan Ahmed Chowdhury for his contribution in treatment and organisation. Prime Minister Khaleda Zia distributed the awards to their widows and children. The BMA gold medal was introduced in 2003 to encourage the health-service providers in putting their best efforts in service.
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