The Telemedicine Reference Centre Ltd (TRCL) launched  a tele-medicare service for diabetic patients in the country,

the first of its kind in Bangladesh as well as in Asia.

Information Minister of Bangladesh Abul Kalam Azad launched the service in the capital, Dhaka.

National Prof Dr MR Khan, also chairman of TRCL, Prof AK Azad Khan, president of Bangladesh Diabetic Association, Richard C Strobridge, Chief Executive Officer of Entra Health Systems, and Jon Danilowicz, acting deputy chief of mission, US embassy, also spoke.

People residing in Dhaka, Chittgong and Sylhet cities will come under the service coverage initially at a monthly charge ranging from US$8.68 (BDT 600) to $18.08 (BDT 1,250), the service providers said, adding that the service would be extended across the country in phases.

Any mobile phone user of the country would get access to the mobile health (mHealth) service by becoming a member of the AMCARE-iDM.

A diabetic patient can be a member by paying Tk 1,000 and then get a user name and a password for accessing the service by a Bluetooth Glucometre (MGH-BT), which may cost Tk. 4,500. Members will get SMS alert as well as service from the Telemedicine Call Centre (TCC), officials said.

The Bluetooth device has two years of warrantee, and after the two years the AMCARE will replace a Bluetooth Glucometre at half the cost.

The Electronic Medical Record (EMR) will be monitored at a portal of the Entra Health Systems (EHS) of San Diego in the USA, a partner of the project.

Any patient can view the EMR by logging on to www.amcaremobile.com, and also can have a printed version of the record.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Joint Institute for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (JIFSAN) have sent a team of seafood specialists to Bangladesh this week to help train local officials on aquaculture safety and quality control techniques.

The team of seafood specialists says the goal is to work with Bangladeshi officials to help that country improve the overall quality and safety of its aquaculture products for both domestic and international markets.

“Collaborating with other countries in this way not only helps to improve the quality and safety of their domestic product, but also what they export to the United States and other countries around the world,” said FDA Deputy Commissioner for International Programs Murray M. Lumpkin, M.D.

“Because of the rapid development of aquaculture, FDA’s role in protecting the public health is more important than ever,” said Stephen Sundlof, D.V.M., Ph.D., director of FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition. “Cooperative programs such as this will help ensure that accepted Good Aquacultural Practices are adopted and practiced around the world.”

The FDA said aquaculture is the production of aquatic life such as shrimp, fish and plants under controlled conditions for all or part of their life cycle. The aquaculture industry is now the fastest-growing segment of agriculture worldwide, accounting for 52 percent of all fish produced.

 In the United States, about 85 percent of the seafood consumed is imported from more than 50 different countries and of that amount, 40 percent comes from aquaculture operations, officials said.

The international training program is a joint effort between the FDA, the University of Maryland and Virginia Tech.
The training will include lectures, demonstrations, site visits, and workgroup activities. Using a “train-the-trainer” model, those who successfully complete the program will be qualified to continue training others in their country on accepted “Good Aquacultural Practices.”

The FDA and JIFSAN, supported by cooperative partnerships, also provide materials that allow the countries to continue the training programs.

JIFSAN was established in 1996 through a Memorandum of Understanding between the University of Maryland and the FDA. Since then, more than 800 participants in 18 countries have been trained in Good Agricultural Practices, Good Aquacultural Practices, or Commercially Sterile Packaged Foods.