DHAKA, Jan 23, 2020 (BSS) – With around three crore patients with liver diseases, a two-day international conference titled “Bangabandhu LIVERCON 2020” will begin tomorrow at Bangladesh Academy for Rural Development (BARD) in Cumilla.
The national body representing hepatologists ‘Association for the Study of Liver Diseases Bangladesh’ (ASLDB) will organize its 16th annual scientific conference dedicating to the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman ahead of his birth centenary.
Over 450 specialists on liver, medicine, surgery and other branches of medical science will take part in the conference, said a press release here today.
According to the release, the pattern of liver disease is versatile in Bangladesh. There is a large number of HBV (Hepatitis B Virus) infected people. Fatty liver is a growing concern and Bangladesh is perhaps one of the most suitable countries for studying non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. At the same HCV is also one of the main causes of chronic liver disease in Bangladesh.
In Bangladesh, after it’s humble beginning in the 1990s, Hepatology has gone a long way.
The country now has Hepatology Faculty positions in most public medical colleges, whereas only Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) had hematology department till 2009.
Bangladeshi liver specialists have been playing an important role to introduce modern treatments for liver diseases in Bangladesh.
They have contributions to introduction of autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation and plasma exchange in liver failure treatment in the country.
The greatest achievement of Bangladeshi liver specialists is developing a breakthrough medicine named ‘NASVAC’ for the patients infected with Hepatitis B Virus (HBV).
Professor Mamun-Al-Mahtab (Shwapnil), Secretary General of ASLDB and Chairman of Hepatology Department at BSMMU, and Dr Sheikh Mohammad Fazle Akbar, a Bangladesh-born professor at Ehime University in Japan, developed the medicine which has already got registered in Cuba, Belarus, Ecuador, Nicaragua and Angola.
Besides, the medicine’s clinical trial is going in Japan with the cooperation of Bangladeshi experts.