Health Minister Zahid Maleque on Tuesday launched a web-based Advanced Covid-19 Clinical Management Course for physicians.
The course, developed by Brown University in the USA based on their internationally renowned course curriculum, is aligned with Bangladesh’s national case management and critical care guidelines, according to a press statement.
Developed with the support from the US government’s leading development agency, USAID, it was reviewed and endorsed by a working group of national experts under the leadership of the Directorate General of Health Services.
The free of cost self-learning, pre-recorded course with videos and interactive modules is meant for doctors in Bangladesh who are involved in Covid-19 clinical case management.
Health Minister Zahid, in his speech, thanked everyone involved in the development of the online course.
“In recent days, we are witnessing an escalation of Covid-19 cases. To address this, and as a part of our preparedness, this collaborative training course will help all government and private physicians working at the sub-district, district, and tertiary level hospitals to have the best evidence-based clinical knowledge on Covid-19 in Bangladesh,” he said.
“In line with the updated ninth version of the National Guideline of Covid-19 Management, this course has been customised to cater local patients by local doctors, which is a very timely initiative.”
During the Covid-19 pandemic situation, online-based learning services have proved to be an effective alternative solution to in-person training.
Flexibility of such online-based courses is suitable for the doctors who are overwhelmed with their duty hours but also need to be updated to tackle the pandemic as it diverges, the statement said.
From Communicable Disease Control (CDC) of DGHS, more than 20,000 doctors and nurses have already been trained on Covid-19 case management.
As part of its continuous support to the Bangladesh government in the Covid response, USAID, through its “MaMoni Maternal and Newborn Care Strengthening Project (MNCSP): Emergency Response to Covid-19 Pandemic” implemented by Save the Children and its partners, has been supporting multiple capacity building initiatives to enhance the knowledge and clinical skills of Bangladeshi doctors and other frontline workers.
The online course is yet another effort to facilitate continuous capacity building support to doctors on management of Covid-19 patients. The project also supports the DGHS in implementing rural community-based interventions to help contain virus transmission in the community.
DGHS Director Abul Bashar Mohammad Khurshid Alam chaired the event. A number of dignitaries were also present at the program.
More than 150 participants from across the country joined the event.
