Bangladesh joins Bloomberg's 'data for health' initiative

Bangladesh is now connected to a global initiative that can preserve health data for every individuals starting from their birth to death, officials said, expressing their hope that it would improve efficiency in uses of scare resources for public health, reports the BSS.

 

The Data for Health Initiative, which is jointly run by Center for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention, the Bloomberg Philanthropies and other partners, seeks to collect vital health information about people and use that information for the betterment of their health.

 

Bangladesh is one of 18 countries among the low-to middle-income countries across Asia, Latin America and Africa that has been included in the system and is expected to develop a database for the people who need service for health both at public and private facilities.

 

"The initiative would help Bangladesh policymakers to set public health priorities, address challenges and assess successes based on the data recorded in the digital information system," additional director general of health services Professor Dr Abul Kalam Azad told journalists at a press conference at Prime Minister's Office here on Wednesday.

 

Professor Azad said a separate mechanism called Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (CRVS) has already been put in place and it has started recording the data of the important episodes of illnesses of patients, pregnant mother and their newborns. The local CRVS Secretariat would implement the program in the country, he added.

 

CRVS Country Coordinator Mohammad Nazrul Islam and A2I Project Director Kabir Bin Anwar, among others, also spoke on the occasion.