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A widespread hope for a sustainable health system in Bangladesh through preventable health practices were surrounds throughout the launching events of the School Health, Population and Nutrition Education package took place in the CIRDAP auditorium hall on January 06, 2021. This event also had a wider participation of the senior officials from the directorates of Health and Family Planning, Development Partners and NGOs. 

 

Presided over by Mr. Nitish Chandra Sarker, Additional Secretary (Pop., FW & Law), ME&FWD of the MoHFW the launching event was also attended as special guest by Mr. Shahadat Hossain, Additional Secretary (Dev.), ME&FWD, MoHFW; Ms. Shahan Ara Banu, Director General, Directorate of Family Planning, Mr. Md. Shahjahan, Director General, NIPORT and Mr. Barry T. Gill, Acting Mission Director, USAID-Bangladesh while the address of welcome was accorded by Mr. Syed Mojibul Hoq, Additional Secretary (PH), HSD of the MoHFW. 

 

In his speech, as part of address of welcome, Mr. Syed Mojibul Hoq made a brief background of the development of the School Health, Population and Nutrition Education (SHPNE) package. He optimized that this will contribute school boys and girls to become responsible father and mother. Before the special guests makes their speeches, Mr. Dipak Kanti Mazumder and Dr. Zeenat Sultana of Ujjiban made an overview respectively on the SHPNE package contents and its implementation plan in the field/school level. At this level of discussion two of the field level implementors, one each from the Health and family planning department, expressed their views over the SHPNE package and their field level experiences. Both of them talked about their hopefulness of addressing preventive health services for the school students to become more organized and user-friendly as this package covered comprehensive HPN issues and sessions have been planned with detail trainers note with a separate trainer’s guideline. 

 

While addressing the occasion Mr. Md. Shahjahan, Director General, NIPORT termed the development of this package as very timely and to be contributory for the sustainable health of the country. Ms. Shahan Ara Banu highlighted the coverage of comprehensive health, population and nutrition issues in this package which will be uniformly provided both by the health and family planning front line workers. In his speech Mr. Barry T. Gill mentioned about USAID’s support for Bangladesh’s health development program. He hoped this package will contribute a lot for the adolescent as well as overall health situation of the country. Mr. Shahadat Hossain reiterated the combination of HPN issues in one package which has been provided with detail notes and guideline has enriched this package will become very useful for the school students. 

 

In his concluding remarks as Chairperson Mr. Nitish Chandra Sarker mentioned about the usefulness of this package by extending reach and coverage and avoiding duplication in the field as it will implement under a joint planning in the field. He expressed hopes that this package will bring about the model health behavior as community practice. 

 

The event had a good coverage in the national print and electronic media that highlighted the main features of the occasion. These mass media include The New Nation (Print), Channel-i, Masranga, and Mohna (Electronic).