The government on Thursday appointed Professor Dr Abul Bashar Mohammad Khurshid Alam of Dhaka Medical College (DMC), as the Director General (DG) of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
He is replacing the resigned DG Abul Kalam Azad, a circular issued by the Health Services Division revealed it.
The circular of the Health Services Division announced it hours after terminating a contract with Abul Kalam Azad.
Professor Khurshid Alam, Chairman of the Surgery Department at DMC, has been asked to join the post immediately.
The changes come as the DGHS is struggling to regain public trust amid a series of scams related to COVID-19 tests, mismanagement of hospitals and mask scam.
Khurshid Alam, also the General Secretary of Bangladesh College of Physicians and Surgeons, now has the daunting task to play a key role in the much-expected overhaul of the country’s health care system during this battle against Covid-19 pandemic.
Health Minister Zahid Maleque on Wednesday said the government would form a taskforce to monitor irregularities in the health sector.
Azad was the latest casualty since the episode of fake COVID-19 tests unravelled.
Earlier, the government replaced Asaadul Islam with Abdul Mannan as the health services Secretary amid questions over the handling of a scam involving face masks for government hospitals during the ongoing coronavirus crisis.
Alam passed MBBS from Sir Salimullah Medical College. Before becoming the chairman of the DMC’s surgery department, he had headed the same department at Cumilla Medical College. He had also worked at Barishal Sher-e-Bangla Medical College.
His appointment came a day after DGHS Director General Professor Abul Kalam Azad resigned from the post on Wednesday.
