Accreditation council to ensure medical education of global standards
Approval of the Accreditation Council will be required to study medical science abroad
The government has approved a draft law to ensure global standards of medical education in the country.
In this regard, an accreditation council will be formed to recognise the medical educational institutions of the country.
Anyone going abroad to provide medical treatment or study medical science has to have approval from the Bangladesh Accreditation Council.
The decision was made at a cabinet meeting on Sunday where a draft "Bangladesh Medical Education Accreditation Act-2021" was approved in principle.
The cabinet meeting was chaired by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina who joined the meeting virtually from her official Ganabhaban residence in the capital.
After the meeting, Cabinet Secretary Khandker Anwarul Islam told a press briefing at the Secretariat that the draft law has been approved in principle to improve the quality of medical education and treatment in Bangladesh in line with the world. From now on, no one will be able to go abroad to study and provide medical services without this approval.
He said according to a joint decision of the World Health Organisation and the World Federation for Medical Education (WFME), an accreditation council would recognise medical educational institutions in every country in order to gain medical recognition in the developed world.
"Without this accreditation, even if someone from our country passes MBBS, he or she will not be able to go abroad for higher study, or be recognised as a doctor in any other country," the cabinet secretary added.
Anwarul Islam said, "By 2024, doctors from countries where medical institutions have not been recognised by an independent accreditation council, will not have the opportunity to receive higher education, training or professional work in the United States and Canada."
Dr Ehteshamul Haque Chowdhury, secretary general of the Bangladesh Medical Association, told The Business Standard, "The formation of the accreditation council is a very good decision. The accreditation council determines whether any work is complying with international standards. However, in order to provide accreditation on health issues, people from the health sector are needed. Assessment would not be accurate if the accreditation council did not have physicians and people from the health sector."
