Bangladesh has received 30,000 India produced kits for RT-PCR testing of coronavirus as the third tranche of medical assistance for tackling COVID-19.
Indian High Commissioner Riva Ganguly Das handed over those kits to Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen on Wednesday with a slogan - ‘dushsomoye pashe thaki, bondhu bole jokhon daki’ (staying with you in bad times when I call you friend).
The High Commissioner conveyed that these RT-PCR test kits are domestically manufactured in India by ‘My Lab Discovery Solutions Private Limited’ and is widely used in India for Covid-19 detection.
“Bangladesh is the first partner country to receive these test kits on priority and that this reflects the importance attached to the bilateral relationship by India,” the Indian High Commission said.
The assistance comes as part of India’s Neighborhood First policy and taking a collaborative regional approach to contain the spread of Covid-19.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi took the initiative to hold a video conference with leaders of other SAARC Countries on March 15.
He also started a SAARC Covid-19 Emergency Fund with initial $10 million. Other countries also contributed to the fund.
This assistance is covered under the ‘SAARC Covid-19 Emergency Fund’ which is intended to support the efforts of government of Bangladesh in tackling the spread of Covid-19, the High Commission said.
The first tranche of emergency medical assistance under this fund containing 30,000 surgical masks and 15,000 head caps was handed over on March 25 and the second tranche consisting of 50,000 sterile surgical latex gloves and 100,000 Hydroxychloroquine medicine tablets were handed over to government of Bangladesh on April 26.
These test kits which are available for immediate use will assist government of Bangladesh in their objective of performing extensive testing.
During his telephonic conversation with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on April 29, Prime Minister Narendra Modi ensured India’s readiness to help Bangladesh in containing the spread of COVID-19 and in mitigating the health and economic impact of the pandemic.
Recalling the time-tested friendship between the countries, Dr Momen appreciated India’s help for the three tranches of assistance following the outbreak of the pandemic.
He added that the testing kits will further step up the number of tests in Bangladesh which is the need of the hour.
The test kits were brought to Bangladesh in an Indigo flight and dispatched to IEDCR, all under requisite cold storage requirements.
India has also come forward to help the medical professional of SAARC countries by conducting online courses under Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) framework.
Two such e-ITEC courses have been conducted by All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Raipur & Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India on 17-21 April 2020 and 27 April-06 May 2020 respectively.
Over 150 health professionals from Bangladesh have benefitted from these courses.
Presently, registrations are being accepted for an e-ITEC course designed especially for Bangladesh and to be conducted in the Bengali language by All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Bhubaneswar. The online course will be conducted from 12 to 13 May 2020.
