In the honor of 153rd Birthday of Marie Curie A Webinar on ‘Best Ways to tackle COVID-19 pandemic in Bangladesh’
Keynote Speech on “How can we best tackle the problems faced in the COVID-19 pandemic in Bangladesh?” By Dr. Firdausi Qadri Emeritus Scientist, icddr.b Abstract SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for the pandemic of COVID-19 has completely changed our lives, leaving no room for social meetings and is no different in the way people are now leading their lives in developing and developed countries globally. The coronavirus outbreak spread worldwide so rapidly that although the pandemic started in December, 2020 in Wuhan in China, it found its way to Bangladesh in the next 90 days. Once in Bangladesh, we started using non-therapeutic preventive measures which included travel bans, wearing of masks, use of sanitizers, remote office activities, country lockdown, and most importantly, social distancing. These were challenges in Bangladesh which is one of the most densely populated countries in the world. The transmission and disease progression dynamics show that COVID-19 will keep spreading rapidly, although the infectious potential and reproductive number, R0 is not as high as many other viruses. All these point to the need for therapeutic interventions with drugs and vaccines becoming available for Bangladesh at the earliest. Of the 180 or so vaccines being developed, more than 15 have advanced into phase III trials to determine efficacy and safety globally. Many countries are testing such vaccines and the developing countries are not lagging behind in the race. The status of vaccine availability in Asia as well as Bangladesh will be discussed and the hopes and anxiety that accompany it.
Keynote Speech on “How can we best tackle the problems faced in the COVID-19 pandemic in Bangladesh?” By Dr. Firdausi Qadri Emeritus Scientist, icddr.b Abstract SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for the pandemic of COVID-19 has completely changed our lives, leaving no room for social meetings and is no different in the way people are now leading their lives in developing and developed countries globally. The coronavirus outbreak spread worldwide so rapidly that although the pandemic started in December, 2020 in Wuhan in China, it found its way to Bangladesh in the next 90 days. Once in Bangladesh, we started using non-therapeutic preventive measures which included travel bans, wearing of masks, use of sanitizers, remote office activities, country lockdown, and most importantly, social distancing. These were challenges in Bangladesh which is one of the most densely populated countries in the world. The transmission and disease progression dynamics show that COVID-19 will keep spreading rapidly, although the infectious potential and reproductive number, R0 is not as high as many other viruses. All these point to the need for therapeutic interventions with drugs and vaccines becoming available for Bangladesh at the earliest. Of the 180 or so vaccines being developed, more than 15 have advanced into phase III trials to determine efficacy and safety globally. Many countries are testing such vaccines and the developing countries are not lagging behind in the race. The status of vaccine availability in Asia as well as Bangladesh will be discussed and the hopes and anxiety that accompany it.
