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An inter-ministry meeting on Thursday expressed concern over the spread of the H1NI virus in the last two-three days throughout the country, with the number of confirmed swine flu cases rising to 87.
   However health minister AFM Ruhal Haque, who presided over a meeting on the country’s swine flu situation, called on the people not to panic.
   But he termed Bangladesh’s situation alarming as the virus was spreading rapidly and widely in neighbouring India where the death toll from swine flu was on the rise. Twenty-eight persons have reportedly died of swine flu in that country.
   ‘The total number of swine flu cases in our country, as confirmed till date, has reached 87, of whom 32 have recovered…It is a matter of concern for us as the situation has worsened in neighbouring India,’ Ruhal Haque told reporters after the meeting.
   The government has undertaken adequate measures to deal with swine flu, he said, and suggested that people should go to nearby health complexes/hospitals if they have any respiratory problems coupled with fever and coughing.
   All hospitals have been alerted against the spread of the virus and the authorities concerned have been asked to treat swine flu patients with special care, the minister added.
   ‘We must use handkerchiefs while coughing or sneezing and should refrain from spitting in public, and should wash our hands with soap frequently to maintain cleanliness,’ said the minister, adding that any patient with symptoms of both fever and respiratory problem should be kept isolated.
   Health secretary Sheikh Altaf Ali told the meeting that the swine flu situation might explode into a national crisis as it has already posed a threat to public health, said an official who attended the meeting.
   The secretary asked the authorities concerned, including the police, to come up with coordinated efforts to check the outbreak of the deadly swine flu which has now turned pandemic in some parts of India.
   A source said that the ministry had sought assistance from the police for tackling the flu outbreak. But a police officer who attended the meeting said that his department has many other jobs to do, prompting an outcry in the meeting, he added.
   According to figures provided by the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research, the number of swine flu cases has risen to 87 from 37 within a week.
   ‘We have a stock of 32 lakh pieces of anti-flu capsules — Oseltamivir — for treating H1N1. We have the capacity to manufacture the medicine in our country also,’ said the health minister.
   He said the Dhaka Medical College Hospital had opened 20 beds for patients who have swine flu symptoms, which include fever with high temperature and respiratory problems.
   The state minister for health, the information secretary, the director general of the Directorate of Health Services and officials from various departments, including the police and civil aviation authority, were present at the meeting.
   They were informed that screening measures had been beefed up at the Bangladesh’s 11 land ports out of 14 in a bid to check entry of swine flu cases from India.
   The H1N1 virus has affected around 180 countries, afflicting 1,70,000 people, across the globe. In Bangladesh the first case of swine flu was detected on 19 June, 2009.

Healthcare services will continue to elude the poor unless the government prepares a comprehensive health policy in consultation with all stakeholders and the masses, who are the ultimate target, experts said Thursday.
   Describing the draft national health policy as a ‘business-friendly’ policy instrument, they said giving quality health services to poor people will remain a far cry if the government opts for wholesale privatisation of the services.
   They suggested that the parliamentary standing committee on health ministry should take the lead in holding consultations with the cross section of people before finalising the policy.
   ‘The draft health policy misses the poor out. They will continue to be deprived of healthcare services if a comprehensive health policy is not prepared and implemented at the earliest,’ Dhaka Community Hospital coordinator Professor Mahmudur Rahman said at a discussion on the draft national health policy 2009.
   Bangladesh Health Watch organised the discussion at the BRAC Centre Inn at Mohakhali in Dhaka.
   Mahmudur Rahman said political parties should be involved in the preparation of the health policy for maintaining continuity of the policy after changes in the government.
   Senior paediatrician Professor MQK Talukder stressed the need for improving child feeding practices for keeping diet related diseases in check. ‘Proper emphasis must be given on nutrition in the policy as diet related non-communicable diseases are a public health crisis looming like a tsunami,’ he said.
   Professor Naila Zaman Khan of Dhaka Shishu Hospital asked whether the government was going for wholesale ‘privatisation’ of healthcare services.
   Khushi Kabir of Nijera Kari said the government should take opinion from stakeholders, including the grassroots people, women and local governments, before finalising the policy.
   WaterAid country representative Khairul Islam proposed that the parliamentary standing committee on health ministry should spearhead the consultation with the cross section of people to know what kind of health services they need and how those could be delivered properly.
   An independent accreditation council can also be formed to monitor the health sector, he felt.
   Laila Arjumand Banu of Bangladesh Mahila Samity and Samia Afrin of Naripakkha demanded that healthcare needs of women and children must be given due importance in the policy.
   Laila said emergency services at almost all public hospitals and healthcare centres are in a shambles.
   Muhammad Abdus Sabur, who prepared the draft policy for the government, claimed that the government was not compromising its responsibility to provide the people with better healthcare. ‘It (government) is only trying to change the way of service delivery,’ he said.
   People in remote areas like Itna (in Kishoreganj) and Tahirpur (in Sunamganj) have not seen government physicians for the last three decades.
   ‘Now the government wants to see whether a physician appointed by a private sector organisation stays in remote areas,’ he said.
   Convenor of BHW advisory committee Professor Raunaq Jahan, who presided over the discussion, said the draft policy was prepared giving emphasis on curative measures for diseases.
   But healthcare service does not end with the cure for diseases, it is a matter of complete wellbeing of people, she said.
   Moderating the discussion, Bhorer Kagoj editor asked how government physicians could afford to stay away from their postings in remote areas like Itna and Tahirpur while officers of other services of the government had to stay there.
   Professor Barkat-e-Khuda of Dhaka University, Faruque Ahmed of BRAC and Obaidur Rob of Population Council, among others, participated in the discussion.

The prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, has urged the Malaysian government to ensure all necessary facilities for the Bangladeshi expatriates in the newly industrialised Southeast Asian country and import various high-grade products from Bangladesh to reduce the trade gap.
   She made the call when the Malaysian high commissioner in Dhaka, Jamaluddin Bin Sabeh, made a courtesy call on her at the Prime Minister’s Office Thursday.
   Hasina and Jamaluddin discussed various issues of bilateral, regional and international developments during the meeting.
   The prime minister put emphasis on reducing the trade gap between the two friendly countries, with the balance currently tilted towards Kuala Lumpur.
   She told the envoy that Malaysia could import from Bangladesh pharmaceuticals as Bangladesh produces high- quality pharmaceutical products which are being exported to more than 50 Asian and European countries.
   Besides, Malaysia can also import leather goods, light- engineering products, jute products, frozen fish, knitwear, woven garments, agro and ceramic products, Hasina said.
   She further requested the Malaysian government to facilitate duty-free entry of Bangladeshi products to the Malaysian market to reduce the huge imbalance.
   The prime minister expressed gratitude to the Malaysian government for hosting approximately 5 lakh Bangladeshi nationals employed in different professions who are contributing to the economic development of both Malaysia and Bangladesh.
   She also urged more Malaysian investment in Bangladesh as now an investment-friendly environment is prevailing in the country.
   During the meeting, Hasina recalled her bilateral talks with the prime minister of Malaysia, Najib Bin Tun Haji Abdul Razak, on the sidelines of the 15th NAM summit held last June in Egypt.
   The Malaysian high commissioner assured the prime minister of giving necessary cooperation from his government to various development sectors of Bangladesh.

The land minister, Rezaul Karim Hira, on Thursday said that his ministry would demolish all illegal structures on government land and bring the land-grabbers to book.
   He also said the government would reclaim the illegally occupied khas lands on the banks of rivers Buriganga and Turag. ‘A joint move by land and shipping ministries has been made to recover the lands occupied by encroachers,’ said Hira at a meet-the-reporters programme organised by the Dhaka Reporters’ Unity at its auditorium.
   Responding to a query about an allegation that a section of leaders and activists of the ruling Awami League and its associate organisations are encroaching on government land to set up their offices, the land minister said that not only the Awami Leaguers but any person who is found erecting illegal structures on public property will be evicted. The government will demolish all the illegal establishments and this process is going on.
   He said the government has taken an initiative to conduct land survey according to the digital instead of the traditional method, and the ministry is working hard to introduce digital land survey across the country within 2014 at a cost of over Tk 3,000 crore.
   ‘The pilot project covering five moujas in Savar will be completed within December,’ he said.
   Responding to another question about irregularities by NSPDL Company in allocating apartments at Bhasantek, the land minister admitted that lapses had occurred and assured the reporters that legal action would be taken after inquiry.
   He said that after assuming office, the Awami League-led government has distributed khas land to some 14,000 poor landless people.
   Hira also said the government would lease out water bodies only to the real fishermen. DRU’s president Shamim Ahmad and general secretary Pathik Saha also spoke on the occasion.

The Bangladesh Air Force observed the 38th anniversary of the death of Shaheed flight lieutenant Bir Shreshtha M Matiur Rahman on Thursday recalling his noble sacrifice in the war of independence.
   Prayer sessions were organised in the central mosques of all BAF bases after the asr prayers.
   Prayers were also said seeking divine blessings for the departed soul and peace and prosperity for the country. The prayers were attended by staff of all ranks of the Bangladesh Air Force.
   The assistant chief of air staff (administration), Air Vice-Marshal Muhammad Enamul Bari, earlier visited the grave of Matiur Rahman in the Martyred Intellectuals’ Graveyard and said prayers in the place.
   Milly Rahman, the widow of Matiur Rahman, was present on the occasion.

Traffic through the northern lane of the Bangabandhu Jamuna Bridge had been suspended for more than two hours as a bus caught fire in the middle of the bridge in Sirajganj early Thursday.
   No injury or casualty was reported.
   Several hundred vehicles headed for Dhaka from the north remained stranded during the time.
   Md Rafiqul Islam, an officer of the bridge’s traffic maintenance department, said a Green Line bus headed for Dhaka from Saidpur caught fire as it reached the middle of the bridge at about 5:00am.
   The driver could save all the passengers, but the bus burned down. Fire engines from Sirajganj and Tangail reached the place two hours later and put out the flames.
   Communication through the lane was restored after 7:30am.

The National Moon Sighting Committee meets today to ascertain the sighting of the Ramadan moon that marks the commencement of the Islamic month of fasting.
   An official announcement Thursday said the meeting will be held at the Islamic Foundation at 8:10pm with its president and state minister for religious affairs M Shahjahan Miah in the chair.
   The committee has urged people to inform ‘if anyone sees the new moon anywhere in the country’ on telephone numbers 9556407, 9555951, 9559643, 9558337, 9555947 or fax-9563397.

Left-leaning political combine Democratic Left Alliance on Thursday called on the government to take immediate measures to arrest the spiralling essential goods prices.
   The combine leaders at a rally in Muktangan said the government had failed to take action against hoarders and essential goods prices were increasing day by day.
   Chaired by the combine coordinator, Bazlur Rashid Firoj, the rally was, among others, addressed by Saiful Huq, Badrul Alam, Zonayed Saki and Babul Biswas.

Unnamed assailants Wednesday night shot dead a man at Dakkhin Keraniganj in Dhaka.
   The deceased, Shahidul Islam Shadu, 45, a resident of Hasnabad Mokampara, was a land broker, the family said.
   They said a gang of five to six stopped Shahidul a few yards off his house at Mokampara when he was returning home at about 10:30pm.
   The attackers fired gunshots on him from close range, killing him on the spot.
   He was taken to a nearby clinic where he was pronounced dead. The body was taken back to his house.
   The police suspected that Shahidul was killed over previous enmity. Nobody was arrested till Thursday in connection with the incident.

Experts and people from the north-eastern districts on Thursday called for a united movement to stop India from constructing the planned Tipaimukh dam on upstream river Barak to save Bangladesh.
   They were speaking at a council of the representatives of the ‘Surma, Kushiara, Meghna Bachao Andolon’ in the Bangladesh Medical Association’s auditorium. People from some 28 districts were present on the occasion.
   The programme presided over by Professor Tareque Shamsur Rahman, a teacher of International Relations in Jahangirnagar University, was addressed by United Nations’ former water expert SI Khan, Dhaka University’s geography teacher Professor Abdur Rab, advocate Zubaer Ahmed, member secretary of the organisation Mohammad Selimuddin as well as representatives from 28 north-eastern districts situated in the Surma, Kushiara and Meghna basin.
   ‘Once the proposed dam is constructed, the country will have to face disastrous environmental consequences,’ said SI Khan.
   
   Calling for formation of a river commission, he said, ‘Different countries have formed different river commissions like the Danube River Commission and Mekong River Commission to deal with the problems of common rivers. So Bangladesh and India can form a river commission, and no structures on rivers should be erected without the permission of that commission.’
   Referring to the statements by many that the construction of the Tipaimukh dam will save Bangladesh from floods, Khan said, ‘Bangladesh needs normal flooding every year. Some 22 per cent of the country should be inundated every year to let the farmlands get the fertile silt that produces bumper crops.’
   Besides, normal flooding is also essential to reduce the salinity in the southern part of Bangladesh, he observed. ‘India should in no way be allowed to build the proposed dam.’
   Urging all to wage a movement against India’s move, he said, ‘The time for only holding workshops and seminars on the Tipaimukh dam is over. Now we should all come out of the rooms to awaken the people against the Tipaimukh dam.’
   Tareque Shamsur Rahman urged the organisers to go from house to house to create awareness among the people about the dire consequences of the dam.
   He also suggested maintenance of liaison with the anti-Tipaimukh dam activists in India’s Manipur state.
   Selimuddin said the country is now passing through a ‘grave crisis’. ‘There is no alternative but to wage a strong movement against India’s move to erect a dam on the common river as Bangladesh has already experienced the disastrous consequences of the Farakka Barrage.’
   The organisation has chalked out a programme to protest against the construction of the dam that includes a mass campaign from August 21 to November 14, formation of a grand human-chain in Dhaka on October 17 and staging a rally in Dhaka on November 15 to mark the death anniversary of Maulana Abdul Hamid Khan Bhasani
   The Surma, Kushiara Meghna Bachao Andalon will also stage a grand rally in Dhaka in the first quarter of 2010.

Development activists at a seminar on Thursday demanded formulation of an effective law to stop use of pornography by children.
   Manusher Janya Foundation organised the seminar on ‘distressed childhood: ways to overcome’ at the National Press Club where it presented the findings of two recent researches on children’s involvement with pornography.
   Bangladesh Centre for Communication Programmes deputy director Zeenat Sultana presented the findings of the studies on ‘Child pornography: an exploratory study at Dhaka’ and ‘Child in sex trade.’
   The studies show about 80 per cent of sex worker enter the trade before they reach 18. Seventy per cent of the girls in the trade said they had taken up the profession against their will.
   The studies show the girls who work for porn films are forced to do such a work as they are trapped into it for their poverty.
   The studies show about 77 per cent of the school-going children view pornographic materials. Most of the students are exposed to pornographic contents under peer pressure.
   Zeenat said the study shows the children mostly use mobiles and computers to view pornographic contents. Children usually collect such contents from cyber cafés, CD shops and friends.
   The women and children affairs secretary, Rokeya Sultana, said social security for the children, in addition to awareness creation, needed to be ensured to stop the use of pornography by children.
   Deputy secretary of the home ministry M Mansur Ul Alam said a body should be instituted to monitor web sites and the body could block pornographic web sites.
   He stressed the need for an effective law or amendment to the existing law to take action in this regard.
   Manusher Janya Foundation executive director Shahin Anam, columnist Abul Momen,
   Incidin Bangladesh executive director AKM Masud Ali and other non-governmental organisation people spoke.

A fire burnt 50 shops and warehouses of waste of garments at Dattapara in Tongi Thursday morning.
   Police and local sources said the fire, originated from an electric short circuit at a shop, engulfed adjoining shops and warehouses.
   On information, three units of the Fire Service from Tongi, Kurmitola and Gazipur went to the spot and doused the flame after about six hours of hectic efforts with the help of local people.

The government has set the new time schedule for all offices of the government, semi-government, autonomous and semi-autonomous organisations during the holy month of Ramadan.
   According to the new schedule to be effective from the first day of Ramadan, the offices will remain open from 9:30am to 4:00pm everyday.
   There will be a break from 2:15pm to 2:30pm for Zuhr prayers, an official release said Thursday.
   Friday and Saturday will remain weekly holidays as usual, it said.

Razia Shahid, the widow of late politician and journalist comrade Abdus Shahid, on Thursday broke her hunger strike that she began in front of the National Press Club on Sunday protesting at serving of eviction notice by Rajuk for implementing the Hatirjheel-Begunbari lake project.
   Rashed Khan Menon, MP and president of Workers Party of Bangladesh, and Asaduzzaman Kamal, local MP of Awami League, broke her hunger strike with a glass of water at the Dhaka Community Hospital at Moghbazar where she was undergoing treatment since Wednesday noon.
   The two lawmakers assured to try their level best in convincing authorities for sparing late Abdus Shahid house that was providing a shelter to his hapless family.
   ‘We’ve talked to the concerned minister and if needed, will discuss the matter with the prime minister,’ Menon told Razia who was first admitted to Dhaka Medical College and Hospital when her condition deteriorated Tuesday afternoon and later shifted to Dhaka Community Hospital at about 12:30pm Wednesday.
   Different socio-political organisations and eminent citizens, including a former president, politicians, journalists, writers, cultural activists and student leaders, called on the government not to acquire the plot and demolish the house of Abdus Shahid, who had survived the historic Khapra Ward massacre carried out by the then Muslim League government in the Rajshahi jail in 1950.
   ‘The Integrated Hatirjheel-Begunbari lake project authorities marked the house of Abdus Shahid at 58/1, Ulan Road at Rampura in the capital for acquisition, but the project can be implemented sparing their plot and house,’ Razia told New Age.

Syed Kadam Ali, a former headmaster of Patarhat Muslim High School in Mehendiganj upazila of Barisal, died of old-age complications at his residence in Khulna city on Tuesday at the age of 78.
   He is survived by four sons and one daughter.
   He was buried at Bashupara graveyard in Khulna city on Wednesday.