The UK has stepped up partnership to reduce preventable deaths in Bangladesh, the British High Commission in Dhaka says.
Matt Cannell, British High Commission Dhaka’s Development Director, said that the UK has a “strong and vibrant” partnership with the government of Bangladesh in a range of areas, including diplomacy, trade and development.
“I am pleased to say we are increasing our work to help end preventable deaths of mothers and newborn children in eleven countries around the world, including here in Bangladesh. The Government of Bangladesh has made huge progress on development over the last twenty years. I would like to particularly applaud the work of newly trained midwives in improving maternal and newborn health care,” he said.
He made the comment while speaking at a roundtable recently hosted by the British High Commission in Dhaka jointly with the government of Bangladesh and other development partners.
They discussed how to step up efforts to end preventable deaths of mothers, babies and children in Bangladesh.
Prof.Dr.Abul Bashar Mohammed KhurshidAlam, Director General of Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) attended the roundtable as the chief guest alongside Matt Cannell.
Chris Carter, Head of Human Development Department of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office in the UK, set out how the UK plans to work closely with the government and partners to sustain and build on Bangladesh’s progress on ending preventable deaths.
This includes working on quality, affordable health services and also addressing underlying issues, such as poor nutrition
“Bangladesh is rightly applauded for its family planning and immunization programmes, and the Government’s commitment to driving down maternal and child deaths, such as the Bangladesh Every Newborn Action Plan. We hope to do more to help build on these efforts. It has been incredible to see the beginning of another Bangladesh success story to develop a new icddr.b alternative formula for Ready-to-use Therapeutic Food (RUTF),” said Chris Carter.
The roundtable included an initial consultation about how to tackle the remaining issues that cause preventable deaths of mothers, babies and children in Bangladesh.
This will help to inform the UK’s approach and identify areas where the UK, the Government of Bangladesh and other partners can intensify their collaboration.