Doctors’ Platform for People’s Health demands free vaccination for all
The organisation made the demand at a press conference in Sagar-Runi auditorium of the Dhaka Reporters' Unity on Monday
Doctors' Platform for People's Health has demanded that all citizens of the country be vaccinated for free to prevent Covid-19.
The organisation made the demand at a press conference in Sagar-Runi auditorium of the Dhaka Reporters' Unity on Monday.
Professor Shakil Akhtar, member secretary of the platform, said the Bangladesh government has been relying on bureaucrats and businessmen from the very beginning in the fight against Covid-19.
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"At present, the government is not focusing on collecting vaccines at the government level. It has handed over the issue of vaccine collection to businessmen," he added.
"The horrible thing is that instead of signing a G2G [government-to-government] agreement with the Indian government, Bangladesh, along with Beximco, signed a tripartite agreement with India's Serum Institute. Additionally, due to several other reasons, confusion has arisen over getting the vaccines at the right time," he continued.
"We are demanding that the vaccine be given to everyone for free, for the sake of the people. Otherwise, the situation will worsen," he added.
The organisation says the government has been hiding information about a number of issues, including the number of deaths from Covid-19, the number of deaths of people exhibiting Covid-19 symptoms and the number of actual infections.
Therefore, various questions have arisen in the minds of the public regarding the success of the government in preventing Covid-19, it says.
The reality is that the novel coronavirus has not been eradicated and an environment has been created in which the pandemic can linger in the community, the organisation claims.
The government's claim of success has led the general public to relax in following the health guidelines, it commented.
Professor Shakil Akhtar was the keynote speaker at the conference.
Faizul Hakim Lala, joint convener of the organisation, as well as Professor Harun-ur-Rashid and Professor Kazi Rakibul Islam, members of the organisation, also spoke at the programme.
