The World Health Day Celebration organized by IEEE Bangladesh Section, IEEE Women in Engineering (WIE) Affinity Group, and IEEE SIGHT was held on 7 April with the theme of “Universal Health Coverage: Everyone, Everywhere.”
Thirty-nine accomplished professionals from more than 13 institutions participated in the event, and speakers included:
- Rumana Ali, Member of the Parliament, People’s Republic of Bangladesh
- Prof. Dr. Celia Shahnaz, Department of EEE, BUET, Chair of IEEE Bangladesh Section and founding Chair of Bangladesh WIE Affinity Group – also moderated the event
- Dr. Fariha Haseen, Associate Professor, Dept. of Public Health and Informatics, BSMMU
- Dr. Samsad Jahan, Assistant Professor, Shaheed Suhrawardi Medical College
- Dr. Tanzina Hossain, MD, Medical Oncology
Dr. Samsad Jahan began by sharing the importance of conducting health screenings on a regular basis, the basic rules of staying healthy, and one of today’s most serious and common diseases – depression.
Dr. Tanzina Hossain introduced participants to the causes and symptoms of different types of cancer, cancer prevention, and the importance of raising public awareness. She also clarified that early detection can help in the complete cure of some cancers.
Dr. Fariha Haseen gave an overview on the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and health. Her short but extraordinary speech helped the group to understand the severity of mental illness caused by depression and anxiety.
Prof. Dr. Celia Shahnaz shared some of the outstanding projects her students have constructed, with her supervision, that could change the health of the general public in great ways: Auto-HRID: automated heart rate monitoring and injecting device with precise vein detection, Stetho-Phone: Low-cost Digital Stethoscope for remote personalized healthcare and Smart Hat, safe and smooth walking assistant for elderly people. Dr. Shahnaz emphasized that the projects are cost-effective and appropriate for a developing country like Bangladesh.
The honorable Rumana Ali, Member of the Parliament, People’s Republic of Bangladesh, shared her appreciation for the whole initiative. She was very impressed with the whole organizing committee and the participation of so many professionals, and hopes to see engineers and doctors come together more often to improve the lives of normal people.
Undergraduate and graduate students from 8 different WIE student branches attended, in addition to some male and female engineers from 3 local companies. The event enlightened everyone about the importance of Universal Health Coverage, a growing political movement to make health outcomes more equitable and health systems more resilient.
