THE controversy why the drug administration is not allowing the Gonoshasthaya Kendra developed kits for testing coronavirus infected persons has raised serious question about the motive behind it. The country is running short of testing kits as the coronavirus is spreading all over. We are depending on imports to carry out mass testing and its shortage is only hindering mass screening.
In such situation the refusal of the Directorate General of Drug Administration to validate the Gonoshasthaya developed kits before testing looks arbitrary. The ingredients for preparing the kit were obtained from England by an eminent medical scientist. So it is not that due importance was not shown in making the kit. Yes, they also knew how urgently it is necessary to identify those who are positive for putting them in isolation.
We have no hesitation to take notice of the claim that this kit gives test results within the shortest possible time. Our information is that there exists a kit that can give result in 48 hours. About this kit doubts persists internationally how much reliable the test kit is.
Some local scientists support that for our immediate purpose of testing antibody and antigen this kit is dependable. The matter is highly scientific. So we know our limitations for determining who is right and who is wrong.
Dr Zafrullah said they had arranged a handing over ceremony again on April 25 at its Nagar Hospital but none from the government side turned out. Later they handed over some samples of the kit to Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University while some others were handed over to representative of US Centre for Diseases Control and Prevention (CDC) for independent validation of the kit.
The same Gonoshasthaya scientist Dr Bijon Kumar had discovered testing kit for SARS virus in 2003 working in a Singapore laboratory and it was then a useful tool to fight SARS virus. The kit has been patented in his name. So the person responsible for developing the kit has authenticity for taking him seriously.
It is argued that the kit was not prepared according to the guidelines supplied by the Health Ministry so it is not acceptable. It is not the guidelines but the results of test that is the question to be considered.
We find both the sides agree that the kit must be tested for its fitness. There was no need for creating a big fuss. No one will believe that in our kind of dirty politics it is no consideration of the government men about “us” and “they”. They are bad and unpatriotic and must not get cooperation from the government. This kind of intolerant politics has destroyed the government machinery to be efficient or trustworthy.
The government cannot deny wasting of public money for buying adulterated goods and even useless medical machinery lying idle in some hospitals for the consideration of illegal gain for the government’s “us” people.
Let us wait for the test results. Both the sides should waste no time because we need testing kits most urgently. Price wise this locally produced kit, if found suitable, will be the cheapest and fastest kit in the world. It would have been the right for the Gonoshasthaya Kendra to obtain first a certificate of test results before offering it for use by the government.
