Bengali liver specialists remember Bangabandhu at Dhaka conference

The first-ever liver conference of Bengali specialists has begun in Dhaka with doctors from Bangladesh, Agartala and Kolkata.

Senior Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 21 Sept 2019, 02:26 PM
Updated : 21 Sept 2019, 02:26 PM

Styled ‘1st Padma-Ganga-Gomuti Liver Conference 2019’, the two-day conference is marking the centennial birth anniversary of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

The year-long official celebration of the centennial birth anniversary of Bangladesh’s founding father will begin on Mar 17, 2020.

Vice-Chancellor of the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) Professor Kanak Kanti Barua inaugurated the scientific event at the university auditorium on Saturday, and thanked the organisers for this ‘unique’ conference.

Bangladesh’s Forum for the Study of the Liver, West Bengal Liver Foundation and Hepatitis Foundation of Tripura have jointly organised the conference where successes of Bengali liver specialists that transcended the boundary, and benefitted the entire world will be presented.

One of such works was the finding of a ‘magic’ drug NASVAC for Hepatitis B treatment. The clinical trials of the drug were done in Bangladesh.

“We’ll celebrate such pioneering works of our colleagues in Bangladesh, Kolkata and Agatala,” Prof Dr Mamun Al Mahtab Swapnil, chairman of the Forum for the Study of the Liver, said. He was one of the key people in the NASVAC research.

It is not a traditional scientific conference to talk about Hepatitis B or Hepatitis C, he said. “This is the conference where we’ll highlight our works that benefitted entire world”.

“Our aim is to present the achievements of Bengali liver specialists to the world,” he said, adding that Bangabandhu was not just the founding father of Bangladesh.

“He was the greatest Bengali of all time. And that’s why we, the Bengali liver specialists, convened here together to celebrate his life”, he said.

About 50 specialists, including some from Japan, are attending the conference. They visited the Bangabandhu Museum in the capital’s Dhanmondhi 32 and placed floral wreath at his portrait there.

“We cannot express how we felt when we visited the museum,” Dr Ashokananda Konar, president of Liver Foundation, West Bengal, said.

“If Bangabandhu were alive, things could have been different in medical sector in this region. We, the liver specialists, would have been benefitted,” he said, adding that healthcare is not just about doctors, it’s a reflection of overall social, economic and political aspects of a country.

Dr Prodip Bhowmik, president of Hepatitis Foundation of Tripura, termed the event “historic” and said “history talks”.

He referred to the 1971 war of independence when he used to get updates through radio and said the electrifying voice of Bangabandhu still resonates into his ears.

“This conference will strengthen the relations among the Bengali and open a new horizon for liver research”.

The second and third editions of the conference will be held in Agartala and Kolkata next year during the official celebration of Bangabandhu’s birth centenary.

People often get affected by liver diseases silently leading to fatalities. When they know, experts say in many cases, it’s too late. They stress awareness about the diseases, particularly Hepatitis B and C viruses, which are known as “the silent killers”.

These viruses damage liver cells, causing a disease called cirrhosis, which can lead to liver cancer.