The US government, through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), has provided over $22 million to complement Bangladesh’s ongoing efforts to prepare and respond to the spread of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
This funding builds on more than $1.0 billion in health assistance provided to Bangladesh over the past 20 years and underscores the long-term US commitment to ensuring access to quality, lifesaving health services for all people in Bangladesh, the US embassy in Dhaka said in a statement on its website on Thursday.
Since the outbreak of COVID-19, the US government has committed more than $900 million worldwide in emergency health, humanitarian, economic and development assistance specifically aimed at helping governments, international organisations, and NGOs fight the pandemic.
This funding will save lives by improving public health education, protecting healthcare facilities, and increasing laboratory, disease-surveillance, and rapid-response capacity in more than 120 countries, the statement read.
In Bangladesh, the United States is supporting the country’s COVID-19 readiness and response in the following areas: strengthening diagnostic and laboratory capacity; increasing case management and infection prevention and control practices; improving supply chain and logistics management systems; and enhancing risk communication messages to increase knowledge and dispel myths and misconceptions.
“Today’s [Thursday] official launch of the USAID, Bangladesh Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, and Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) jointly created online training course on COVID-19 for Bangladeshi doctors is just one example of recent initiatives made possible through U.S. government funding and cooperation,” the embassy said in the statement.
The course provides doctors with useful information on COVID-19, including how to deal with it as a health professional while ensuring one’s own protection and safety, and can be accessed for free by doctors anywhere in Bangladesh through the government’s e-learning platform Muktopaath.
The activity is implemented by Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Communication Programs, and the online platform is managed by Access to information (a2i), a cabinet division under the Bangladesh government’s ICT division that supports the government’s digital Bangladesh agenda.