Korean Embassy in Dhaka on Thursday (Dec 17) donated 5,000 protective face masks, 200 sanitizers, desk shields and other medical equipment for the doctors and health workers of the Korea-Bangladesh Friendship Hospital (BKFH) in Savar.
The donation was done during the visit of the Ambassador of the Republic of Korea, Lee Jang-keun, to the BKFH on Thursday (Dec 17). He was accompanied by Ms. Doh Young-Ah, Director of KOICA Dhaka Office.
During the visit, Ambassador Lee appreciated and spoke highly of the role and sacrifice of the frontline doctors and health workers in the fight against the COVID-19.
The donation offered by the Embassy and KOICA Dhaka Office signifies the solidarity of the Republic of Korea with Bangladesh in coping with the common challenges caused by the unprecedented pandemic, said a press release of the Embassy.
Ambassador Lee’s visit was done on the occasion of the 47th anniversary of Korea-Bangladesh diplomatic ties which falls on today (Dec 18) with the presence of Member of Parliament Monzur Hossain, Dr. Surajit Dutta, CMO of BKFH, Dr. Muzharul Mannan of BSMMU, Md. Shahriar Kader Siddiky, Joint Secretary of Economic Relations Division (ERD) and Dr. Md. Khurshid Alam, Line Director, Hospital Services Management (HSM) DGHS.
With the assistance of the Korean Government through KOICA (Korea International Cooperation Agency), BKFH was inaugurated in April 1998. Last year a new building attached to the hospital to treat eye disease was constructed and equipped through the KOICA assistance.
At present 13 doctors and around 60 health workers including nurses are working at the hospital. KOICA has dispatched one surgeon to the BKFH since 2008 and one additional physician will be dispatched in February 2021.
Other major assistance provided by the Republic of Korea in the health sector is the construction of BSMMU General/Specialized Hospital through EDCF with the amount of 130 million US dollars which is presently under construction and the establishment of the National Institute of Advanced Nursing Education and Research in 2019 through KOICA.
In order to help Bangladesh’s response to COVID-19, the Republic of Korea has decided recently to provide 50 million dollars of EDCF as budgetary support, in addition to its provision of test kits, PPEs and walk-through sample collection booth worth of 1.2 million US dollars.
