PPD » 2012

Bangladesh Immunization Program received International Recognition

PPD — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 10:09:40 +0000

Dar es Salaam, Tanzania — GAVI Alliance Partners Forum held a mega event of the child health and immunization in Dar es Salaam, the capital city of Tanzania from December 4 to 7, 2012. More than 700 participants from over hundred countries of the world participated in the forum. The forum was attended by Ministers of Health from over fifty countries. The main theme of this year’s partners forum was “Rising to the challenge” with regard to immunization.

H.E. Prof. AFM Ruhal Haque MP, Board Member of Partners in Population and Development (PPD), Honorable Minister of Health and Family Welfare of Bangladesh, and member of the Board of GAVI Alliance represented Bangladesh in the partners forum. In a grand ceremony, Bangladesh was awarded the best prize for extraordinary success in routine immunization program and sustaining high coverage overcoming many challenges. The Honorable Health Minister received the prize on behalf of the Bangladesh Government from GAVI alliance. The ceremony was attended by the First Lady of Tanzania, Health Ministers, top officials of UNICEF, WHO, UNFPA, and the leading development agencies of the world.

H.E. Prof. AFM Ruhal Haque, Honorable Board Member of PPD and Minister of Health and Family Welfare of Bangladesh recieving the award (in the middle)

The Bangladesh Health Minister, delivered a key note on “Country Driven Immunization Program: Reflections from Bangladesh.” Bangladesh Health Minister had a bilateral meeting with the Health and Social Services Minister of Tanzania, Dr. Hussain Ali Mwiney. The Social Services Minister of Tanzania expressed interest to receive doctors and other health workers from Bangladesh to support their health service. The Bangladesh Health Minister emphasized exploring Pharmaceutical import from Bangladesh to Tanzania during the meeting.

Experience sharing, sharing of resources (Human, financial and technology) is one of the prime PPD South-South Cooperation strategies. Therefore, PPD will work with the PPD Board Member of Bangladesh and the Republic of Tanzania to actualize experience sharing in the Expanded program of immunization (EPI).

Third Consultative Meeting with the Stakeholders on Raising Voices from the South for Integration of Human Rights Based Approach (HRBA)

PPD — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 10:08:39 +0000

Dhaka, Bangladesh — The third consultative meeting of the Project “Raising Voices from the South for Integration of Human Rights Based Approach to Maternal Health” was held at the National Press Club auditorium in Dhaka on 6th December, 2012. Over 60 local journalists of both print and electronic media, and beneficiaries’ representatives (Mothers from the rural Bangladesh) and Public sector service providers (Birth Attendants) attended the meeting. The objectives of meeting were to orient and build awareness of the journalists on Human Rights Based Approach (HRBA) to maternal health and request them to disseminate the appeal for integrating HRBA in maternal health programs and increase budgetary allocation for maternal health in Bangladesh.

Dr. Joe Thomas, Executive Director of PPD
briefing the journalists

The consultative meeting generated fruitful discussion; where the journalists and birth-attendants made recommendations on integrating HRBA in maternal health programs in Bangladesh; e.g. preventing early marriage, education for woman, prevention of dowry related and acid violence, ensuring timely access to health care during pregnancy and birth spacing. Dr. Joe Thomas, Executive Director of Partners in Population and Development (PPD) reiterated the importance of HRBA to ensure maternal health services, and he requested the journalists to disseminate the key messages of the meeting e.g. to increase allocation of resources in national budget for maternal health.

PPD is working in partnership with a local NGO called DRRA to implement the project “Raising Voices from the South for Integration of Human Rights Based Approach to Maternal Health” funded by the World Bank. PPD is managing the implementation of the multi-country project in Bangladesh, Senegal and Uganda.

Prime Minister of Bangladesh unveil the Foundation Stone of PPD Secretariat Building in Dhaka

PPD — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 10:13:39 +0000

Dhaka, Bangladesh — Partners in Population and Development (PPD) was founded in 1994 and Bangladesh Government became the host country to establish the secretariat in Dhaka, Bangladesh in 1997. From then PPD Secretariat is situated in a temporary location. Bangladesh Government is providing a land measuring 64 decimals to the PPD Secretariat with an initial renovation and furnishing cost of 200 thousand US Dollar. The foundation stone of the 8 storied PPD Secretariat building was unveiled by H. E. Seikh Hasina , Prime Minister of Government of Bangladesh on November 12, 2012 in Dhaka. Later Prime Minister assured that Bangladesh Government will help PPD in every possible way and she proposed to make the Secretariat Building upto 10th floor instead of 8th.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina unveils the foundation stone of secretariat building of PPD in Dhaka in the presence of H.E. Mr. Ghulam Nabi Azad, Minister of Health and Family Welfare of India and H.E. AFM Ruhal Haque, Honorable Minister of Health and Family Welfare of Bangladesh.

PPD’s Governing Body Met in Dhaka

PPD — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 10:06:41 +0000

Dhaka, Bangladesh — The 17 th Annual Board meeting of Partners in Population (PPD) and Development’s took place in Dhaka on 12 th November, 2012. Along with more than 150 participants of this congregation; 1 vice president, 8 Ministers, Partner Country Coordinators from member countries and observers from Afghanistan and UNFPA attended the meeting. The meeting was supervised by the H.E. Mr. Ghulam Nabi Azad, Honorble Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare of Government of India and Chair of PPD Board Member.

In the meeting the accomplished activities in the year 2011 and pledged to continue the supports among member countries to strengthen the commitment of South-South cooperation was reviewed. Moreover, the board approved the minutes of Sixteenth Annual Board Meeting, Nineteenth and Twentieth Executive Committee Meeting. Presentations and vigorous discussions on secretaries report, host country’s report, Treasurer’s report, Executive Directors Report were included in the meeting agenda. The Board decided to arrange the 18 th Annual Board meeting in China on November, 2013, and 21th executive committee meeting in Uganda.

On November 10, 2012, the 21 st Executive committee meeting took place in Dhaka. Presentations and discussions of Program and Finance committee meeting were the key issues in the agenda which were took place. The bellow written Executive Committee members attended the meeting:

H.E. Mr. Ghulam Nabi Azad
Honorable Minister, Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India and Chair of PPD
H.E. Mr. Chen Li
Honorable Vice Minister, National Population and Family Planning Commission of China (NPFPC)
Government of the People’s Republic of China
H.E. Prof. A. F. M. Ruhal Haque, MP
Permanent Member, PPD Board and Honorable Minister, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MOHFW)
Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh
H.E. Mrs Bongi Maria Ntuli
Honorable Deputy Minister for Social Development, Government of the Republic of South Africa
Dr. Boniface O. K’Oyugi, MBS
Director General
National Coordinating Agency for Population and Development and Secretary of PPD board
Mr. Ben Haj Aissa Adnene
Director, Technical Cooperation
National Board of Family and Population, Tunisia

In absence of the Executive Committee’s Vice-chair, treasurer and two members; representatives from particular countries participated the meeting on behalf of them.

The Annual Partner Country Coordinators Meeting of county coordinators was also held in Dhaka on November 9, 2012; where the coordinators from 25 partner countries presented the ongoing activities of a particular country which was from India. The discussion of PCC’s capacity building; which is always a major issue was also included in the agenda of Partners Country Coordinators meeting.

MoU signed between UNTAID and PPD in Dhaka

PPD — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 10:05:24 +0000

Dhaka, Bangladesh — A memorandum of understanding was signed on November 11, 2012 between UNTAID and Partners in Population and Development (PPD), with an aim to work together to promote South-South Partnership. Dr. Denis Broun, Executive Director of UNITAID and Dr. Joe Thomas, Executive Director of Partners in Population and Development (PPD) signed the MoU on behalf of their respective organizations in presence of H.E. Mr. Ghulam Nabi Azad, Honorable Minister, Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India; H.E. Prof. AFM Ruhal Haque, MP, Honorable Minister, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MOHFW), Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh; H.E. Mr. Chen Li, Honorable Vice Minister, National Population and Family Planning Commission of China (NPFPC), Government of the People’s Republic of China.

The MOU is basically for one year and it may continue depending on the assessment. Whereas the scopes of work include; carry out a rapid assessment of regulatory barriers to lifesaving commodities in partner countries, identify specific actions for reducing regulatory barriers and improve regulatory efficiency, and develop a detailed work plan to promote south to south partnership in reducing regulatory barriers and improve regulatory efficiency.

It should be stated that, UNITAID was launched in 2006 by the Governments of Brazil, Chile, France, Norway and the United Kingdom to provide sustainable funding for the fight against HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis and Partners in Population and Development (PPD) is an inter-governmental alliance of 25 developing countries mandated to promote South-South Cooperation in the area of Reproductive Health, Population and Development and was incepted in conjunction with the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) held in Cairo, Egypt in 1994.

PPD International Inter-Ministerial Conference held in Dhaka

PPD — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 10:01:54 +0000

Dhaka, Bangladesh — Partners in Population and Development (PPD) has successfully organized an Inter-Ministerial Conference on “Evidence for Action: South-South Collaboration for ICPD Beyond 2014” from 10-11 November 2012. International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) has some Program of Action (PoA) which have been implemented through South-South Cooperation but still some evidence based information was commonly missing which has been acknowledged. That is why the conference was arranged this time on this topic to improve the understanding of the inter-linkages between population reproductive health and development on which national and international agencies and government can respond to appropriate plans and motivate political will for actions.

The two daylong Conference was attended by more than 150 participants from different countries. With nine sessions in different issues in population, reproductive health, development and women empowerment, the conference was held at Dhaka, Bangladesh. Resource persons from different countries, development organization’s representatives and country representatives made presentations and came up with the Dhaka declaration which includes Universal Access to reproductive health and Family Planning, South –South Cooperation to move forward the London Family Planning Summit Commitments, Rights Based programming for adolescents and other Vulnerable group, Reproductive, Maternal, Neonatal and Child Health, South –South Partnership for HIV/AIDS response, Advocacy for frame work convention on Global Health, Gender Equity, Equality and Women Empowerment for sustainable empowerment etc.

The opening ceremony was chaired by H.E. Prof. A. F. M. Ruhal Haque, MP, Honorable Minister, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MOHFW), Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh along with H.E. Mr. Ghulam Nabi Azad, Honorable Minister, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare of India and Chair of PPD Board, H.E. Mr. Chen Li, Honorable Vice Minister, National Population and Family Planning Commission, Government of People’s Republic of China, H.E. Mrs. Isatou Njie-Saidy, Member, PPD Board and Honorable Vice President and Secretary, State for Women’s Affairs, Government of the Gambia. Chief guest of the opening ceremony was Mr. Abul Maal Muhit, Honorable Finance Minister , Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh. The closing ceremony was chaired by H.E. Mr. Ghulam Nabi Azad, Honorable Minister, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare of India and Chair of PPD Board, along with H.E. Mr. Chen Li, Honorable vice Minister, National Population and Family Planning Commission, Government of People’s Republic of China, H.E. Prof. A. F. M. Ruhal Haque, MP, Honorable Minister, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MOHFW), Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh and Dr. Joe Thomas, Executive Director, Partners in Population and Development.

STEP-UP Partners Consultative Meeting with National Task Force, Donor Organizations and Development Partners.

PPD — Tue, 18 Sep 2012 09:49:32 +0000

Dhaka, Bangladesh — PPD in collaboration with the Government of Bangladesh and STEP-UP project Partners in Bangladesh organized a consultative meeting with the members of National Task Force (NTF) on 18 September 2012 at Directorate General of Family Planning, IEM Conference Hall. The meeting was attended by stakeholders including national task force members and representative from the donor organizations and development partners. The meeting objectives were to introduce STEP-UP partners to the NTF members; to brief the NTF members about the project background, objectives and expected outputs; to share the consortium’s planned activities in partnership with the NTF members for the preliminary inputs and to create a platform for technical inputs in country profile.

The meeting was chaired by Mr. A K M Amir Hossain, Additional Secretary and Director General, Directorate General of Family Planning. Dr. Mohammad Sharif, Director (MCH-Services) & Line Director (MC-RAH) and Member Secretary of the National Task Force welcomed the members and other participants and briefed the participants about the STEP-UP project and its partners in Bangladesh.

Dr. Joe Thomas, PPD Executive Director addressed the participants. In his address, he highlighted PPD’s priority focus areas and how the STEP-UP research outputs to that. He mentioned that the inputs of the step-up project will help the developing countries to expedite the progress of achieving the ICPD and MDGs.

Dr. Ubaidur Rob, Country Director, Population Council presented a Brief Overview on STEP-UP multi country program and partners. In his presentation he highlighted the significance of research on unintended pregnancy in developing countries and elucidated the focus areas of the STEP-UP.

Dr. Lorna Tumwebaze, PPD Deputy Executive Director, made a presentation on PPD’s Role in the STEP-UP Project in Bangladesh. Dr. Tumwebaze indicated 3 major involvement areas of PPD under the project: Communicate & increase uptake of the generated research evidence; Capacity building and Partnership and networking. Dr.Tumwebaze explained the expected contribution and role of the NTF memerbs/key stakeholders to the STEP-UP project.

Dr. Laura Reichenbach, Social Scientist, ICDDR, B presented an outline of the Bangladesh Country Profile. In her presentation, she described the goal of the profile as to design and produce an analytically rigorous, nationally relevant, and comprehensive review of the current evidence related to family planning, fertility intentions and preferences, menstrual regulation and abortion, and the needs of specific populations in Bangladesh.

The discussions were wrapped up by Mr. A K M Zafar-Ullah Khan from Population Council and formerly Senior Secretary to Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of Bangladesh. However, he added that accessing services to hard to reach, remote and low performing areas are challenging. The consortium should realize the challenges, interventions and strategies for accessing programs and services to these areas. Mr. A K M Amir Hossain, the chairman of the NTF and Director General, Directorate General of Family Planning and Additional Secretary of Government of Bangladesh provided concluding remarks. He thanked PPD for associating NTF members for utilizing their expertise and experiences in vetting the country profile and policy and programmatic implications in Bangladesh. He concluded the meeting with the commitment for providing support and cooperation to STEP-UP consortium for successful implementation of the project and achieving outcomes.

Second Stakeholder meeting for Raising Voices from the South for integration of a Human Rights Based Approach (HRBA) to Maternal Health held in Dhaka

PPD — Wed, 01 Aug 2012 09:41:48 +0000

Dhaka, Bangladesh — The Second stakeholder meeting of the Raising Voices from the South for Integration of Human Rights Based Approach to Maternal Health was held at the National Press Club Auditorium in Dhaka on 1st August 2012. The objective of this meeting was to introduce the project to different stakeholder and to share and request feedback on a draft situation analysis report prepared by reviewing international treaties, commitments, gaps in implementations and status of maternal health in Bangladesh.

Participants of the Second Stakeholder Meeting

Dr. Mahbubur Rashid, Program officer of PPD made a presentation on the overview of the project and Dr. M. Munir Hussain Consultant of DRRA presented on situation analysis on maternal health in the context of Human rights based approach in Bangladesh. The presentations followed by a lively open discussion among the different stakeholders which was undoubtedly the attractive part of this meeting, where traditional birth attendees to renowned gynecologist shared their experience and thought.

This project is funded by World Bank and PPD partnered with DRRA to implement the project in Bangladesh with the full support of National Taskforce (NTF) for South-South Cooperation under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare of the Government of Bangladesh. The project aims to enhance capacity of relevant government officials and key stakeholders in maternal health to improve their policies and programs and make them more equitable and supportive for women and girls especially the most vulnerable. It is also expected that the project helps countries to establish effective mechanisms of accountability, non-discrimination, partnership building for the prevention of unacceptably needless maternal deaths and injuries accounted each year.

PPD Congratulate Government of India for their groundbreaking health care scheme “Free Medicine for All”

PPD — Tue, 17 Jul 2012 09:38:37 +0000

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare of the Government of India has undertaken an ambitious initiative to spend $5 billion for providing the most essential medicines under a “free-medicines-for-all” scheme to the poorest and the most vulnerable people of India.

It is exciting to note that the 348 drugs that the Government will provide free of cost under the scheme are the most essential lifesaving medicines including anesthetics, anti-AIDS, anti-psychotic, steroid, anti-ulcer, cholesterol-busting and cancer healing medicines, which are usually beyond the affordability of the majority of the population, resulting in their prolonged illness and premature death. This initiatives is a part of the Indian government’s latest five-year spending programme (2012-17) and is expected to start in October. The health ministry hopes by 2017, some 52 percent of Indians or some 600 million people will have access to the drug scheme.

PPD congratulate H.E Mr. Ghulam Nabi Azad, Chair of PPD Board, Minister of Health and Family welfare India and the Government of India wholeheartedly on this unprecedented initiative and wish its brilliant success. PPD beleive that the provision for free distribution of essential lifesaving medicines will improve life expectancy of millions of peoples and India will be blessed with manifold benefits from this groundbreaking initiative from which other developing countries. PPD member states will also benefit enormously from India’s experiences and lessons learned.

PPD Participates in the World Population day Celebration in Bangladesh

PPD — Wed, 11 Jul 2012 09:37:11 +0000

Dhaka, Bangladesh — The Population Day 2012 was observed in Bangladesh on 11th July 2012 with the theme of ‘Universal accesses to Reproductive health services’. Different government and non-government organizations undertook elaborate programs to observe the day.

PPD Secretariat Staff at the World Population Day Rally

The Ministry of Health of Bangladesh organized a rally in Dhaka, which was attended by more than 1,500 people from different national and international bodies including PPD. The PPD Secretariat staff actively participated in the nationwide celebrated Population Day event.

The Population Day rally celebrations, culminated in a national celebration program on Population Day that was held at Osmani Memorial Auditorium in Dhaka, Bangladesh presided over by Professor Dr. Syed Modasser Ali Advisor to the Prime Minister on Ministry of health and Family Welfare and Ministry of Social Affair. Dr. Capt (Rtd) Mozibur Rahman Fakir Honourable State Minster Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Heads of UN agencies, PPD leadership and other key development partners were also attended this event.