Thursday, December 25, 2008

Bogra Culture

Sniffin' up some Bangla culture
July 1, 2007

Traffic jam in Bogra
Bangladesh has three Unesco World Heritage sites and one of them is Mahastangarh and the other one in Parharpur so it was time for me to sniff up some Bangla culture. Getting to Mahasthangarh was really easy just take one rickshaw driver and pay ten times the local price and 30 minutes later I was in Mahastangarh. Getting the price down to a more agreeable twice the local rate was next to impossible and after asking five different rickshaw drivers who were all in cahuts with each other. In the end I surrended and paid the extorsionist ten times local price of just USD 1. Yup when you travel this long as I do, you get cheap for all the wrong reasons and lose perspective of all the prices.
I really don't know who's on the committee or how much Bangladesh paid to get something on the prestigiuous Unesco World Heritage Site List because to me Mastangarh looked more like a rubble of stones than an ancient city. Again I had to pay a King's ransom of Taka 250 (about USD 2.50), ten times the local price, I think you'll see a trend here.
Parharpur was nothing better than Mastangarh, I think the people on the visiting committee must have been "stoned" to list these things anyway both of them were less than spectacular. The best thing about Parharpur was actually getting there and away because I took the wrong bus I had to take a rickshaw ride of about an hour half through the country side for Taka 500 (USD 5) for the round trip.

Awareeness in Bogra


Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) arranged two separate programmes on investors’ awareness at Rajshahi on June 9, 2007 and at Parjatan Motel in Bogra on June 10, 2007. With DSE President Mr Md. Abdullah Bokhari in the chair, the programmes were attended by SEC Member Mr. Mansur Alam, DSE Senior Vice President Mr. Ahmad Rashid Lali, Vice President Mr. Sharif Ataur Rahman, Directors Mr. Md. Rakibur Rahman, Mr. Kazi Firoz Rashid, Mr Abdul Haque, Mr. Khwaja Ghulam Rasul, Mr. M.A. Quayum, Mr. Md. Azizul Hoque and Mr. Shahed Abdul Khaleque, ICB Managing Director Mr. Ziaul Haque Khandker and SEC Executive Director Mr. Anwarul Kabir Bhuiyan and President of Bogra Chamber of Commerce and Industry Mr. Fazlur Rahman Paikar. High officials of DSE and SEC, chamber leaders of Rajshahi and Bogra, local bank officials and a large number of investors attended.DSE President Mr Md. Abdullah Bokhari in his speech said DSE has paved the way for establishing a secondary market at the divisional level of the country through a modern automated trading system to reach the investment facility at the remote areas. DSE Brokers are taking part in the trading through different branch offices through upgradation of DSE’s automated online system. A new chapter in the DSE history was opened through the inter-district trading.DSE President Mr Md. Abdullah Bokhari addressing a programme on Investors’ Awareness at Nanking Darber Hall in Rajshahi on June 9, 2007. DSE Senior Vice President Mr. Ahmad Rashid Lali, Vice President Mr. Sharif Ataur Rahman, SEC Member Mr. Mansur Alam and DSE Chief Executive Officer Mr Salahuddin Ahmed Khan are also seen.“A thorough knowledge on the stock market can ensure participation of more and more investors in the securities market and there is no alternative of a vibrant capital market to develop the country’s economy through the spontaneous participation of investors.” DSE President Mr Bokhari said. DSE Senior Vice President Mr. Ahmad Rashid Lali said it is possible to establish big industrial units though small capital owned by small investors of the securities market. Besides capital gain is also possible when the stock prices rise. Share business is a legal business as per Islamic law. World renowned Islamic scholars in an international conference in Cairo in 1986 recognised the share trading as a legal one. He said the DSE has taken all-out preparation to handle daily turnover worth Tk 5.0 billion within next two-three years as strong companies under telecommunications and power and energy will go public by this time.DSE Chief Executive Officer Mr. Salahuddin Ahmed Khan said the DSE trading has been expanded through the upgraded automated system. He asked the investors to invest considering the financial strength of the companies concerned. He presented an overview on different aspects of investment operations in primary market and secondary market, central depository system and clearing and settlement systems of stock trading. SEC Member Mr. Mansur Alam thanked the DSE for its efforts to develop the country’s securities market. He said the securities market is no more Dhaka-based, rather it has expanded across the country. He hoped that DSE will reach at the doorsteps of every investor in near future. As the regulatory body, he said, SEC will assist the DSE in developing various areas of the securities market.DSE President Mr Md. Abdullah Bokhari, DSE Senior Vice President Mr. Ahmad Rashid Lali, Vice President Mr. Sharif Ataur Rahman, SEC Member Mr. Mansur Alam, Managing Director of ICB Mr Ziaul Huq Khondker and DSE Chief Executive Officer Mr Salahuddin Ahmed Khan in the Investors’ Awareness programme in Bogra on June 10, 2007.ICB Managing Director Mr. Ziaul Haque Khandker in his speech thanked the DSE for arranging the event in the district of Bogra known as hub of business and trade in northern Bangladesh. He declared that ICB will open a branch office within a short period in Bogra to facilitate the stock business in the district. President of Bogra Chamber of Commerce and Industry Mr. Fazlur Rahman Paikar thanked the DSE for arranging the programme and assured to help in arranging such event in future also. The DSE CEO replied to the queries of investors in the programmes.Investors and guests at the programme on Investors’ Investors and guests at the programme on Investors’ Awareness in Rajshahi on June 9, 2007. Awareness in Bogra on June 10, 2007.DSE has already provided necessary logistic support to the investors to trade from the divisional cities. The bourse has expanded its trading network inside Dhaka, Chittagong, Sylhet and other cities through IT vendor companies. The vendor companies are using optical fiber, radio-link and asymmetric digital subscription link (ADSL) in addition to optical fiber to do their networking business. DSE began online stock business in Chittagong through LankaBangla Securities, a member of both DSE and Chittagong Stock Exchange from August of 2005. The DSE move on business expansion was taken in view of an upgraded trading system launched from August 21 of 2005 to cater to the growing demands of securities market including enhanced trading capacity of 50,000 howlas per day, which is scaleable upto 100,000.Previously the daily trading capacity was 15000 only. Hewlett & Packard (HP) of USA, Scandent Solutions of Chennai (India) and Syscom Information Systems Ltd of Bangladesh completed the upgradation project at a cost of Tk 60-million which doubled the previous 16-bit Tandem Electronic Security Architecture (TESA) application to 32-bit architecture.





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Job Market

Opsonin is one of the leading pharmaceutical companies in Bangladesh with a distinguished heritage of 1st line native entrepreneurship in this particular area since 1956. We are performing our business in diversified areas like Pharma, Agrovet & Consumer Brands. We offer excellent working environment, competitive salary package and career progression linked with individual’s performance on the job. Opsonin is extensively exercising information technology (IT) to derive any strategic decision as well as policy making. Opsonin is enjoying a razor-sharp competitive edge over its competitors in the industry with the help of IT by implementing (Supply Chain Management) SCM, (Enterprise Resources Planning) ERP and the like time demanded concepts and methodologies. We are inviting applications from potential candidates to strengthen our existing team to the following position
Jr. Executive/Executive, ITJob location: Opsonin Plant at Barisal. (Candidates who are interested to work at Barisal are encourage to Apply)Short Job Profile: This position will report to the Manager, IT who is the Head of IT Department,Job Summary: To design, develop, document and maintain company-specified customized applications and systems.Major Job Responsibilities:Find out the specific requirement from the user (use case analysis)Design and develop applications as per business requirements.Make sure of Integration of each & every developmentTest the system on the basis of Test Data for the quality checking of developed applications.Handle Security futures of the Application.Provide training to user; ensure smooth operation and instant support of applications.Ensure optimum performance of developed applications.Job Requirements:Education: B.Sc in EEE/ CSE/IS/CS/IP/MEExperience: 1-3 years working experience in Oracle/ PHP Development environmentTraining: Development Tools in Oracle platform like Form Developer, Report Builder, PL-SQL, J developer, Oracle Discoverer & PHP.Communication Skill: Good in English (both writing & speaking)Special Requirement: Dynamic, self motivated, hard working, willing to work under pressure & strong analytical skillsAge: Not more than 30 yearsORInterested individuals are requested to apply online or send application along with resume and 1 recent passport size color photo addressed to Human Resources Manager by 28th December 2008 mentioning the name of the position on the top of the envelop. Only short listed candidates will be called for interview.Corporate HeadquartersOpsonin Building, 30 New Eskaton RoadDhaka 1000, Bangladesh.

ARSENIC POLLUTION IN BANGLADESH
For the past two decades the water from over a million tube-wells has been slowly poisoning Bangladeshi villagers with naturally occurring arsenic. Over 18 millions people are drinking this poisoned water daily.
Arsenic is naturally occurring in pyrite bedrock underlying much of West Bengal. The poisoning began to occur as millions of kiloliters of water was being pumped out from deep within underground reservoirs. As a result the water level dropped and exposed the arsenic-bearing pyrite to air leading to oxidisation, a reaction which flushed arsenic into the remaining water.
Arsenic is a slow killer that accumulates in the body resulting in nails rotting, dark spots, bleeding sores, swelling, large warts and a form of gangrene. It is carcinogen increasing the risk of skin cancer and tumors of the bladder, kidney, liver and lungs.
Villagers in Jampukkur, first noticed something was wrong in the 1970’s when dark spots spread across their bodies. They finally learned they were drinking arsenic contaminated water in 1993 when official tests showed 95% of the village wells were contaminated.As a result of widespread water contamination domestic abuse has become just one of the social costs. There are now many reports of broken marriage, as husbands send disfigured wives back to their parents. In Jampukkur, many young men and women don’t get married at all. Some people think the poison can

Safty


ANGLADESH Ahmadiyya Community in the city of BograLeaders of Islamist groups have threatened to attack members of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat religious community, on Friday 11 March, in the city of Bogra. This attack is intended to be a strong statement by Islamist groups to pressure the government to declare Bangladesh’s Ahmadis “non-Muslims“.This attack will be the culmination of a hate campaign led by the Islamists in Bogra and the nearby regions of Rajshahi, Natore and Gaibandha over the past week. Members of Islamist groups have been conducting this hate campaign in an attempt to raise support for the planned attack in Bogra this Friday.This planned attack follows a pattern of similar attacks on Ahmadi places of worship in the districts of Chittagong, Patuakhali, Narayangonj, Brahmabaria, Nakhalpara and Dhaka over the past year. Civil society groups and NGOs have come forward in solidarity with the Ahmadis in the face of previous attacks, and will be present in Bogra to support the Ahmadi community on Friday.Previous attacks on the Ahmadis have been foiled by the assistance of local police and civil society groups, but it is feared that public speeches by Islamists inciting mobs to violence, the possible confiscation of Ahmadi prayer books and the hanging of signs on the place of worship, warning all Muslims that this is a place of worship for non-Muslims, will lead to violent attacks on members of the Ahmadi community this Friday.BACKGROUND INFORMATIONBy targeting the Ahmadiyya community, Islamist groups are believed to be attempting to force the government to yield to their political demand for the introduction of more stringent Islamic law in Bangladesh. The groups are hoping to obtain mass support from poor and disenfranchised sections of society, whom they feel they could influence by appealing to their religious beliefs.Although the local authorities have reportedly in the past taken measures to ensure the safety of the Ahmadis, the national government has yet to take the important step of publicly condemning this incitement of violence against the Ahmadiyya community.In the past year, Amnesty International has documented abuses by Islamist groups including the killing of an Ahmadi preacher; a ban on Ahmadiyya publications; rallies inciting violence against Ahmadis; and the rising wave of hate speech and public rallies calling for the Ahmadis to be declared non-Muslims. Amnesty international has also expressed concern by an edict by a local Islamist leader which forbade Ahmadis from buying or selling goods in their village, harvesting their crops, sending their children to school or even talking to one another in the presence of other villagers, which effectively confined the Ahmadis to their homes, and only ended when the Home Ministry intervened after 25 days.

Arsenic in Bangladesh






BANGLADESH & ARSENIC


General information

The people's Republic of Bangladesh occupies a territory in the north-eastern part of the Indian subcontinent above the Bay of Bengal between 200.34'- 260.38' N latitude and 880.01'-920.41' E longitude. It has a territory of 147,570 sq. km and a population of 130 million. Population growth rate is 2.1 annum. Density of population 800 per sq.km; sex ratio: 106 male to 100 female. Literacy rate was 32.4% in 1991 but now it is about 47%. There are 88.3% Muslims, 10.5% Hindus, 0.6% Buddhists and 0.3% Christians and others 0.1% . The urban population constitutes 20.1% and rural population 79.9%. The state language is Bengali, but English is widely used and understood.


Administrative set up
Bangladesh has a parliamentary form of government with the prime Minister as the chief executive. The country is divided into 6 administrative divisions. Each division is subdivided into Zilas, which in their turn consists of thanas. Thanas are then divided into unions consisting of several Mouzas (revenue villages). At present there are 64 districts and 496 thanas. There are 19.4 million households distributed over 59.990 Mouzas.




Climate
Bangladesh enjoys sub-tropical climate with the average temperature ranging in summer between 21-34 degrees C and in winter between 11-29degrees Average rainfall: 1194- 3454 mm: highest humidity in July – 99% and lowest in December 31%.


Brief political history
Bangladesh has emerged as an independent state after a 9-month long bloody liberation war in 1971. Before that time it was a province of Pakistan and was called East Pakistan. Going further back this land was a part of the provinces of Bengal and Assam of the British colony of India. As a result of the anti-colonial struggle of the people of India the British had to quit India in 1947 and while doing so they divided the subcontinent into two separate states, namely India and Pakistan on religious ground.


Brief geological outline
Bangladesh occupies the major portion of the Bengal basin. Nearly 85% of the recent sediments of Bangladesh have been deposited by alluvial and deltaic processes of the mighty rivers like the Ganges, the Brahmaputra, the Meghna and the Teesta. Many other smaller rivers also have their contributions, but to a lesser extent. There are about 230 rivers with a total length of about 24, 140 km. The active delta occupies the area south of the Ganges river and mostly west of the Meghna estuary. Most of the delta is less than 15 m above the sea level and the tidal zone is generally 3 m above that level. There are some hilly regions in the north-east and the south-east and some high lands in the north and north-western part of the country.Composition of sediments depends on the rocks of their origin. Those associated with the river Ganges tend to be rich in clay and often contain silts, rather than clay.Total forest area covers about 14% of the land area.Mineral resources include natural gas, coal, limestone, hard rock, lignite, silica sand, which clay etc. Radioactive sand deposits have been found along the beaches.


Health status
According to 1995 statistic, crude birth rate is 27, crude death rate 8.6, infant mortality rate 78 and life expectancy at birth 58. Predominant diseases/symptoms are acid secretion, heartburn, dyspepsia, gastritis, peptic ulcer (10. 16%), diarrhoea (10.84%), cold (6.7%) fever (11.55%), scabies, abscess (3.63%), rheumatism (3.28%), malaria (3.28%), asthma (2.54%), influenza (3.07%), blood pressure (1.67%) typhoid (1.56%), measles (0.96), tuberculosis (0.53%), and others.


Water habit
97% of the population of Bangladesh use tube-well water for drinking and cooking purposes. The rural people use pond, lake and river water for washing, bathing and other domestic purposes. The urban people use deep tube-well water for the same. For irrigation river and deep tube-well waters are used.According to DPHE source, in 1993-94 there were 855, 996 hand/shallow tube-wells in rural areas and the number of deep tube-wells in 8 former coastal of Chittagong, Noakhali, Sylhet, Khulna, Barishal, Faridpur, Patuakhali and Jessore was 51,819.


Genesis of the arsenic problem
Until recently the arsenic problem was almost unknown in Bangladesh, although in neighboring West Bengal it became evident in the mid-eighties. Arsenic specialists in Calcutta however, predicted that as the younger deltaic deposition stretched from West Bengal into Bangladesh, the latter might also have arsenic contamination of ground water. The prediction held true as they found patients from the bordering districts of Bangladesh with arsenical skin lesion going to Calcutta for treatment. They warned the government of Bangladesh and the WHO about the presence of arsenicosis patients in Bangladesh in the early nineties and accordingly Bangladesh government began some investigations in this direction, however it was kept more or less unpronounced and neither the physician community, nor the public knew anything about it until 1996 when Dhaka Community Hospital came into the scene.In June 1996, Dhaka Community Hospital held a health camp at Pakshi in the western part of the country in which several skin patients were suspected of having arsenical skin lesions. Tube-well from that area was tested and was found to have high content of arsenic. DCH informed the local officials and made newspaper reports. Following this news on arsenic began flowing from other districts, There were rumor and tales, however nobody seemed to be knowing how real the arsenic threat was. DCH felt the need to respond to the interest of the public health and send a fact finding team consisting of 8 members including 3 skin specialists and 3 other senior doctors to that area. They collected water samples from 41 tube-wells and biological samples (nail, hair, skin and urine) form 95 patients. Water samples were tested at the BCSIR Laboratories, Dhaka, while biological samples were tested at the School of Environmental Studies, Jadavpur University, Calcutta 66% of the water samples and more than 90% of the biological samples water found to have higher than normal concentration of arsenic. DCH made the results public in a national seminar held with the participation of Dr. Dipankar Chakraborty of the SOES, Jadavpur University, Calcutta in January 1997 and urged the government and other concerned organizations to take immediate steps to face the problem.


Extent of the problem
At present several departments of the government with assistance from international donor agencies, some NGOs, university departments and private organizations are working on the arsenic problem and although there is lack of standardization in their work (for example, some are using laboratory methods, others are using kits for testing water) and exchange of information among themselves, an overall gloomy picture has emerged. Judging from the scattered reports publish to the press from time to time many organizations have found unacceptable level of arsenic in ground water form a vast majority of the districts of the country and a large number of patients suffering and dying from arsenicosis and its complications. To present a systematic view and statistically sound conception of the extent of the arsenic problem in Bangladesh, we below use data collected by Dhaka Community Hospital in collaboration with School of Environmental studies, Jadavpur University, Calcutta.


In terms of underground water
To date 30,000 tube-wells from 64 districts have been tested for the presence of arsenic in underground water by the above-mentioned organizations. In 47 districts water samples were found to have arsenic above 0.05mg/1, the maximum permissible limit, recommended by WHO and in 54 districts the arsenic concentration was more than 0.01 mg/1, the WHO recommended value for safe water. In those 47 districts where arsenic concentration crossed 0.05 mg/1 limit, 54.64% of the samples were found to have crossed that border. Area of these 47 districts is 47,732, sq. km with a population of 76.9 million. At the present state of knowledge it can be safely concluded that although not all tube-wells are contaminated, there are thousands of pockets of contaminated underground water in at least two thirds of the districts of Bangladesh and the people living there are at real risk of developing arsenic toxicosis.


In terms of patients
DCH and SOES conducted surveys for arsenicosis patients in 64 districts and found patients with arsenical skin lesions in 32 of them. They examined 24664 people in the affected villages and 33.6% of them were diagnosed as patients with arsenical akin manifestations. A Total of 2167 hair samples, 2165 nail samples, 220 skin samples and 830 urine samples were analyzed and an average of 94% of them were found to have arsenic concentration above the normal limit. A report form the National Institute of Preventive and Social Medicine stated that they had more than 800 arsenicosis patients in their list. At the skin department of IPGM & R 250 patients with arsenical skin lesions have been investigated and treated. It is obvious that if systematic surveys are conducted in all the districts where there is high level of arsenic in underground water, more patients will be found. So at this moment it can be safely concluded that there are thousands of arsenicosis patients in Bangladesh.


Causes of arsenic contamination
Earlier several hypotheses were put forward including one that the arsenic compound treated rural electrification poles were the source of arsenic contamination of underground water and the other that insecticides and fertilizers were the culprit, but these did not found to hold water. Now it has been more or less generally agreed upon that the source of arsenic contamination is geological with mobilization of arsenic due some Geochemical processes.


Efforts in mitigation of arsenic disaster
Since 1996 different organizations including the government, NGOs and private organizations have come forward to study different aspects of the arsenic problem and find out ways of combating against it, however these are still in very initial stage. The government has formed a National Steering Committee with the minister of health and family planning as its chairman. Other government bodies involved in the arsenic work are: Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Co-operatives (MoLGRDC), Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoH&FP), Economic Relations Division of the Ministry of Finance, Planning Commission, Environmental and Geographic Information System for water Resources Planning (EGIS), National Institute of Preventive, Social and Occupational Medicine, Department of Public Health Engineering (DPHE), Institute of Postgraduate Medicine and Research (IPGM&R).International donor agencies have shown their interest in the arsenic problem. At least 3 arsenic teams of the World Bank have visited Bangladesh by December 1997. The UNDP has funded a Rapid Action Program (RAP) which is currently being implemented jointly by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and Dhaka Community Hospital in 200 villages of the arsenic affected districts. In 3 months time the program is to assess the gravity of the situation if the villages, seek community based solutions to the problem and put forward recommendations for further programs to be drawn. The UNICEF has provided field test kits to DPHE and other organizations and is considering elaborate programs. WHO invited arsenic experts to this country and held a meeting in New Delhi on the arsenic problem in Bangladesh. Foreign missions like the British High Commission/DFID, the Embassies of Japan/JICA, Denmark/DANIDA, Canada/CIDA and the Netherlands have shown their willingness to take part in the fight against arsenic. Asia Arsenic Network is actually running a project in Samta, a remote village in the western part of the country.Some NGOs are actively involved in efforts to solve the arsenic problem. The Disaster Forum, an association of NGO’s working in disaster management was once very active in organizing arsenic activities, but now it seems to have lost its tempo. Perhaps without the initial support of the Disaster Forum, the arsenic situation would not have taken the shape it has today. Some other NGO’s deserve mentioning like ADAB, NGO Forum, BRAC, Grameen Bank etc.As a private organization Dhaka Community Hospital has been involved in the alleviation of the arsenic problem form the very beginning. It has conducted extensive surveys, sampling, supportive treatment of patients, training programs for doctors and other health and community workers and awareness program. When at the beginning it was being said that the arsenic problem was not that serious and being exaggerated, DCH held a national seminar in January 1996 and proved that it was a real threat to our public health. Currently DCH is engaged in implementing the Rapid Action program in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. It has organized the International seminar in collaboration with SOES.School of Environmental Studies, Jadavpur University, Calcutta, West Bengal, India (SOES) has been the pioneer organization in ringing alarms for arsenic calamity in Bangladesh. Actually it is in the laboratory of this school that most of the water samples and almost all the biological samples from Bangladesh have been tested for arsenic. Its director Dr. Dipankar Chakraborty has extensively traveled over vast region of the country over and over again meeting with peoples in their doorstep, collecting samples and supporting and soothing patients and relatives. He has direct consultative links with almost all the organizations in this country who are working on arsenic. His role in raising the arsenic awareness in this country is enormous.Other organizations that deserve to be mentioned include Atomic Energy Commission and BCSIR Laboratories who have some facilities for water testing, although very costly for the common people; ICDDR,B which is experimenting with removal of arsenic from contaminated water; geological departments of Rajshahi and Dhaka Universities, chemistry department of Jahangirnagar University and BUET who are doing some work in their respective fields.


Conclusion
There is no doubt that the arsenic situation in Bangladesh is very grave to say the least. Patients are suffering, relatives are desperate and physicians are at a loss. Still we are optimistic that with joint efforts of the government, national organizations, international agencies and scientific community some solution will be reached that will bring smile to faces of the distressed. To mobilize and organize efforts of the international community toward that goal is the prime target of this seminar.

Status of medicine i Bangladesh


Situation of Traditional Medicine
in Bangladesh


Traditional Medicine?
_ ‘traditional medicine” refers to health practices, approaches, knowledge and beliefs incorporating plant, animal and mineral based medicines, spiritual therapies, manual techniques and exercises, applied singularly or in combination to treat, diagnose and prevent illnesses or maintain well-being.
_ South Asia is historically rich for the practice of Ayurveda, Unani and Homeopathy and various local treatments that include food systems, spiritual rituals, customs, etc.
Bangladesh Healthcare service
_ a. Modern system: based on Allopath
medicine
_ b.Traditional System:
_ i. Ayurvedic (Kabiraji)
_ ii. Unani, (Hakim)
_ iii. Homeopathic
_ iv. Folk medicine
There are about 6,000 registered and 10,000 unregistered practitioners (kabiraj and Hakims)

Modern and Traditional side by side
_ In Bangladesh, Homeopath, Ayurvedic and Unani medicines are officially recognised, practised as alternative and side by side with allopathic medicine and also as supplementary system.
_ There are 2 dozens registered herbal pharmaceuticals in Bangladesh, of which 4 big pharmaceuticals are Sadhana, Sakhti, Kundeshwari, and Hamdard, producing 80% of
traditional remedies.
_ These are controlled by Unani and Ayurvedic Board.

Pharmaceuticals based on Ayurvedic,
Unani etc.
_ Ayurvedic company: 204
_ Unani: 297
_ Homeopathic: 77
The annual sale of these companies (2003) is Tk. 300 crores
There are no formally registered Herbal medicinal
pharceuticals
But 2 Allopath based pharnmaceutical company are marketing
2 herbal drugs
Heptolin by ACME for liver disease
Adovas by Square for cold, cough
40 Ayurvedic and Unani companies have applied for license to
produce Herbal medicine

Folk Medical practice
_ Based on traditional beliefs, social cultures, with or without use of medicinal preparations
– includes religious and also spiritual medicines
_ Folk medicine is mainly based on community knowledge
– expressed through experiential knowledge of the elderly people, homebased treatments.
Folk medicine is widely practised in Bangladesh

Why all these are called TM?
_ Traditional Medicine or treatment is based on traditional uses of plants, animals or their products, other natural substances (including some inorganic chemicals), religious verses, cultural practices, and physical manipulations.
_ This system of medicine has been in use almost unchanged generation after generation throughout the ages for the treatment of various physical and psychological diseases, it is called traditional.
_ The type, preparation, and uses of traditional medicines are largely influenced by folklore customs and the cultural habits, social practices, religious beliefs and, in many cases, superstitions of the people who prescribe or use them.
What is the main interest now?
_ Countries like Bangladesh are rich in biodiversity, therefore have a rich resource of herbs and plants, trees which in one or more of its organs, contains substances that can be used for
therapeutic purposes.
_ Bioprospecting i.e. commercialisation of biological resources ( world market of $62 billlion according to survey in 2000 increasing by 15% each year.

Situation of imports of medicinal plants
_ Bangladesh is so far the importer of raw materials for pharmacueticals (Tk. 64 crore worth of medicinal plants)
_ Govt. aims to reduce imports.
_ Bangladesh has at least 500 medicinal plants, 106 plant species being listed as endangered.
_ 80% people depend on herbal medicines
for their primary health care.
_ Allocation of budget for TM is 0.08%

Concerns related to ‘traditional medicine’
_ It treats the products, processes and the knowledge of traditional medicine independent from the system. For example, plants, food systems or the fermentation process of traditional Ayurvedic system is seen as ‘raw materials’ to be appropriated by the modern allopathic
system, as if the knowledge-value or medicinal value of the elements of the systems can be treated separately and extracted without the system within which they play the medicinal role.
_ The integration or appropriation of ‘traditional medicine’ in the mainstream health care systems implies potential danger of biopiracy.
_ The issue of a people-based primary health care is not integration of ‘traditional medicine’ in the modern’ health care system but to develop the critique of all systems.