BANGLADESH

Leading health professionals of Bangladesh and India have urged their prime ministers to keep public health collaboration high on their agenda in Dhaka summit, as they believe prioritisation on health 'can spur human development' and ensure health for all.

Five Indian and six Bangladeshi professionals and public health experts made the request in a letter handed over to the prime ministers offices in Dhaka and New Delhi, just before Manmohan Singh's two-day Dhaka visit on Tuesday.
  obtained a copy of the letter signed by Prof. K Srinath Reddy, president, Public Health Foundation of India on behalf of others.

The letter addressed to the both prime ministers sought 'considered' support for a strong bilateral initiative for strengthening public health in both countries through 'collaboration in education, learning and research.'

Prof Reddy handed over the letter to the Indian prime minister's office on Sunday while Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU)'s vice-chancellor Prof Pran Gopal Datta handed over the letter to the Bangladesh prime minster's office on Monday.

The Indian professionals are Prof Reddy, Dr A K Shiva Kumar, UNICEF adviser and member of National Advisory Council; Dr Mirai Chatterjee, Social Security Self Employed Women's Association director; Prof Rama V Varu, Centre of Social Medicine & Community Health, Jawaharlal Nehru University; and Dr Abhay Bang, director, Society for Education, Action & Research in Community Health.

The Bangladeshi professionals were: National Professor Shahla Khatun; BRAC founder and chairman Sir Fazle Hasan Abed; Bangladesh Diabetic Association president Prof A K Azad Khan; Obstetrician Prof. Samina Chowdhury; ICDDR'B deputy executive director Dr Abbas Bhuiya; and Prof Datta.

"Our (letter) focus is on bilateral cooperation in public health issues," the vice-chancellor Prof Datta said while confirming  about handing over the letter.

They identified some common gaps that still remain in both countries, despite progress and initiatives to improve the health sector and reduce health inequities.

According to the letter, the gaps are in the availability and quality of health services, health information systems based on which policy and programmes are designed, and the size and skills of the multi-layered health workforce required to meet the health system's requirements.

The letter suggested 'collaboration in capacity building for public health in all of the above dimensions' to strengthen health systems in both countries.
"We have much to gain by learning from each other and even more by learning together," it said.

The letter outlined that collaboration should involve shared educational resources, joint academic programmes, joint research projects for the design and evaluation of innovations in health service delivery, and studies of different models of health financing for Universal Health Coverage.

The doctors extolled Bangladesh's progress in recent years with different health indicators and the role of women has been seen as catalysts for community action in health.

India's launch of the National Rural Health Mission was commended for transforming access to health care and improving maternal and child health across the country.

 health experts earlier suggested a joint infectious diseases contingency plan between the neighbours to control the 'emerging' viruses as Bangladesh shares most of its border with India.

Long-disputed border issues, sharing of river water, trade, power and transit would dominate Manmohan's visit.