BSS, Dhaka :
The US Ambassador to Bangladesh Earl R Miller visited an icddr,b tuberculosis screening center in Dholaikhal, on Wednesday Under the National Tuberculosis Control Programme (NTP), icddr,b is operating 10 TB screening centers in Dhaka, Chattogram and Sylhet through an innovative sustainable social enterprise model. Of these centers, two are supported by USAID’s Challenge TB Project, said a press release here on Thursday. Ambassador Miller was accompanied by the USAID Bangladesh Mission Director Derrick S Brown and Director of OPHNE, USAID Bangladesh Caroll Vasquez. They were welcomed at the center by icddr,b’s Executive Director Professor John D Clemens and the Challenge TB Project’s Chief of Party Dr Oscar Cordon. Dr Sayera Banu, Senior Scientist and Head of Programme on Emerging Infections at icddr,b briefed ambassador Miller and his companions regarding screening and treatment procedures at the centre, alongside its state of the art diagnosis facilities.
This model is successfully providing screening and treatment services because of its flexible operational timing, subsidized digital chest X-rays and free of cost sputum GeneXpert tests allowing it to reach a broader section of the community.
Additionally, patients are provided free of charge glucometry and HbA1c if found to have raised blood sugar level. Private physicians play a significant role in referring presumptive TB patients to this centre. Ambassador Miller commended the icddr,b-USAID initiative, saying “I am honoured to visit this facility and dedicated staff. The work being done here is life saving and life changing. The U.S. Government is proud to be associated with this extraordinary programme.”
Dr Sayera appreciated Miller’s interest in visiting a TB screening center, she said, “Just a few weeks ahead of the World TB Day, on March 24, the Ambassador’s visit to a TB screening and treatment centre will definitely provide encouragement to the entire workforce engaged in this life saving work. Additionally, it will help raise awareness about this global epidemic of tuberculosis.”
The visiting delegation also met with few patients and staff at the TB screening center.
The US Ambassador to Bangladesh Earl R Miller visited an icddr,b tuberculosis screening center in Dholaikhal, on Wednesday Under the National Tuberculosis Control Programme (NTP), icddr,b is operating 10 TB screening centers in Dhaka, Chattogram and Sylhet through an innovative sustainable social enterprise model. Of these centers, two are supported by USAID’s Challenge TB Project, said a press release here on Thursday. Ambassador Miller was accompanied by the USAID Bangladesh Mission Director Derrick S Brown and Director of OPHNE, USAID Bangladesh Caroll Vasquez. They were welcomed at the center by icddr,b’s Executive Director Professor John D Clemens and the Challenge TB Project’s Chief of Party Dr Oscar Cordon. Dr Sayera Banu, Senior Scientist and Head of Programme on Emerging Infections at icddr,b briefed ambassador Miller and his companions regarding screening and treatment procedures at the centre, alongside its state of the art diagnosis facilities.
This model is successfully providing screening and treatment services because of its flexible operational timing, subsidized digital chest X-rays and free of cost sputum GeneXpert tests allowing it to reach a broader section of the community.
Additionally, patients are provided free of charge glucometry and HbA1c if found to have raised blood sugar level. Private physicians play a significant role in referring presumptive TB patients to this centre. Ambassador Miller commended the icddr,b-USAID initiative, saying “I am honoured to visit this facility and dedicated staff. The work being done here is life saving and life changing. The U.S. Government is proud to be associated with this extraordinary programme.”
Dr Sayera appreciated Miller’s interest in visiting a TB screening center, she said, “Just a few weeks ahead of the World TB Day, on March 24, the Ambassador’s visit to a TB screening and treatment centre will definitely provide encouragement to the entire workforce engaged in this life saving work. Additionally, it will help raise awareness about this global epidemic of tuberculosis.”
The visiting delegation also met with few patients and staff at the TB screening center.
