US Ambassador Earl Miller on Wednesday praised the epidemiologists and public health experts who continue to serve as Bangladesh’s frontline of defense to combat Covid-19.
Opening the first Bangladesh congress on epidemiology and public health, the ambassador said the pandemic has taught us many things.
“One of those things is policy and action is only as effective as the science and data they are built upon,” he said.
“We can promote mask wearing and social distancing, as we are doing here today, because we know the science and data tells us it works. We can promote vaccination because the data from the vaccine trials and post vaccination surveillance tells us the vaccines are safe and effective. None of this is possible without epidemiologists and public health experts … We all want answers to challenging public health questions [about COVID-19] … and we turn to our epidemiologists and public health scientists to piece together the information and draw conclusions just like a detective does at a crime scene. It is not an easy job. But we can no longer deny it is a vitally important one”.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is partnering with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the Institute of Epidemiology Disease Control and Research (IEDCR), and the Epidemiology Association of Bangladesh to sponsor this first-ever national conference focused on the vital roles field epidemiology and public health play in saving lives and keeping people healthy from serious diseases in Bangladesh and across the world during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The two-day conference includes in-person and online sessions sharing experiences and scientific lessons from Bangladesh about COVID-19; establishing a global network of public health experts to apply COVID-19 lessons to preparing for future pandemics and outbreaks; and building support for expanding the number of epidemiologists and public health experts in Bangladesh.
During the opening day of the conference, Ambassador Miller and IEDCR Director Dr. Shirin presented certificates of completion to 10 of graduates of the CDC-funded Field Epidemiology Training Program (FETP).
Since 2014, the beginning of the FETP Bangladesh programme in Bangladesh, 33 epidemiologists have completed the rigorous two-year programme.
Over the past year, the trained Fellows have served on Bangladesh’s frontlines in combating COVID-19, usually as the first people on the ground doing case investigations, contact tracing, and other measures to both understand and control the spread of the deadly virus.
The two-day conference attendees will also establish a global network of public health experts to apply COVID-19 lessons to prepare for future pandemics and outbreaks and discuss the importance of expanding the number of epidemiologists and public health experts in Bangladesh, the US embassy said.
