India, Bangladesh to cooperate in curbing communicable diseases

 NEW DELHI - India and Bangladesh, in a meeting between the two countries’ health ministers, have agreed on the need for “better cooperation” to contain cross-border transmission of communicable diseases.

The Indian delegation led by Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad met Bangladesh’s Health Minister A.F.M. Ruhal Haque for bilateral discussion on health related issues in Dhaka Sunday.
“Both sides agreed that there is a need to ensure better cooperation for the containment of cross-border transmission of communicable diseases. It was decided that not only India and Bangladesh, but also Pakistan and Afghanistan would try and have common immunisation days to ensure that the population on both side of the border are adequately covered,” an official statement said here.
Azad offered to help Bangladesh in developing super specialty skills by tying up with centres of excellence in India.
“The Bangladesh side was keen to learn from the expertise gained by India on curbing of influenza pandemic. Azad offered to let experts from Bangladesh visit the testing centres developed by India. The introduction of a new curriculum for rural medical practitioners in India also evoked interest,” the statement added.
“It was felt that, considering that the two countries have similar health related issues, a memorandum of understanding covering health related issues on which there can be mutual sharing of expertise, knowledge and information will be signed,” the statement said.