The health minister, AFM Ruhal Haque, on Sunday called on the private sector investors to come forward to work beside the government for the development of medical biotechnology in the country.
‘Biotechnology has a large prospect in the medical sector,’ he said.
The minister was addressing a programme marking the opening of the Centre for Medical Biotechnology of Directorate General of Health Services held at Institute of Public Health auditorium.
Ruhal Haque formally opened the centre.
Abul Kalam Azad,
director of Management and Information Systems at the directorate, said, ‘There is a huge opportunity for marketing stem cell as a huge number of babies are born in the country every year.’
Medicine of cancer, heart, alternative of
blood or any other cell of the body could be
produced from stem cell by using biotechnology, he said.
It has huge opportunities in the medicine and vaccine production sector, Azad said.
‘We have to go a long way. It is only beginning,’ said health secretary M Humayun Kabir.
The discussants said more medical professionals should acquire knowledge about medical biotechnology as it was an emerging technology.
They said if medical biotechnology could be applied in medical
and pharmaceutical industries, it would make healthcare cheaper and more effective.
Health services director general Khandaker M Shifayetullah presided over the programme.