The International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b) yesterday formally recognised the role of its staff in keeping diseases in check at a ceremony at its Mohakhali headquarters in the capital, reports BSS.

Md Serajul Huq Khan, secretary, Health Services Division, Ministry of Health and Family, Welfare and Prof. John D Clemens, executive director at icddr,b, spoke at the function.

Awarded staff, their supervisors, senior leadership team members, representatives from development partners, among others, attended the programme.

In the early days of the Rohingya exodus in September, 2017, the icddr,b partnered with the Bangladesh government and other organisations to conduct an initial risk assessment of the Rohingya camps in Cox’s Bazar, icddr,b sources said.

The icddr,b felt that pre-emptive actions must be taken to avoid a cholera outbreak in the Rohingya camps.

Nearly one million people are living in the makeshift shelters under compromised water, sanitation and hygiene facilities, which is an ideal condition for infectious diseases like cholera to spread.

Consequently, icddr,b assisted the government to apply for the oral cholera vaccine to ICG, WHO and deployed the largest immunisation team by a single organisation comprising 150 staff to undertake the second largest cholera vaccination campaign in history.

Meanwhile, in Dhaka, a vast diahorreal outbreak spread rapidly. icddr,b received an unprecedented number of diarrhoeal patients (55,222) during Mar-May 2018, the highest number since the 2007 floods.

The icddr,b’s Dhaka Hospital staff stood by its motto of ‘Turn No Patient Away’ and thus continued saving lives by working overtime offering a high standard of clinical care.

Today, the icddr,b recognised the outstanding contribution of its staff during its humanitarian responses in the Rohingya camps in Cox’s Bazar and the diarrhoeal outbreak in Dhaka.

Speaking on the occasion, Prof. John D Clemens said, “It gives us immense pleasure to recognise all of our extraordinary staff who have shown commitment, confidence and compassion while delivering excellent services to protect the FDMN population in Cox’s Bazar and during the outbreak in Dhaka.”