Several years ago, BHB developed the PMS (Pharmacy Management Software) to improve the operations of retail medicine outlets in Bangladesh. Available free of charge, the software enables the medicine shop owners and dispensers to maintain full inventory and produce useful business reports and statistics including tracking antibiotics sales and expired medicines. Recently, BHB made a […]
BHB launches the upgraded version of PMS Read More »
The World AMR Awareness Week is a global campaign to promote understanding of AMR and the critical need to control the emergence and spread of drug-resistant infections worldwide. The week is celebrated globally each year from 18 to 24 November. The theme this year was, “Preventing antimicrobial resistance together”. BHB organized a discussion event on
BHB celebrates World AMR Awareness Week 2023 Read More »
Through a recent Office Order issued by DGDA on 31 October 2023, the regulatory authority mandated that the country’s retail medicine outlets must submit applications for new and renewal drug licenses online through ADLRS (Automated Drug Licensing and Renewal System) rather than through the manual system. DGDA officials will also process the applications and documents
DGDA switches fully to online system for new and renewal drug license issuance Read More »
On 18 December, the Director General of Drug Administration, Major General Dr. Mohammad Yousuf, formally launched BHB’s training program on good pharmacy practices for medicine dispensers. BHB’s Country Project Director, Professor Dr. Abul Kalam Azad; DGDA’s Director Mr. Eyahia; and the Pharmacy Council of Bangladesh’s Vice Chair, Mr. Mosaddek Hussain and General Secretary, Mr. Mahbubul
Good pharmacy practice training formally launched Read More »
The Technical Management Committee, headed by the Director General, Drug Administration, meets quarterly to review the progress of the Better Health in Bangladesh (BHB) project activities. The last meeting of the year was held on 22 November 2023 at the Directorate General of Drug Administration (DGDA) offices and was chaired by Major General Dr. Mohammad
BHB appraises the Technical Management Committee members on 2023 progress Read More »
Over September and October 2023, a BHB IT expert provided technical support to DGDA: Upload content to DGDA’s online portals (amended block list, no-objection certificates, Regulatory Inspection (RI) guideline, pages, and files) Repair and improve hardware, software, and network Support meetings Guide ADLRS end users Guide the flow of the BHB eLearning platform’s registration module
BHB’s IT personnel supports DGDA Read More »
To benefit retail medicine shops in Bangladesh, the BHB project developed Pharmacy Management Software (PMS) for owners to make available free of charge. The PMS tool provides sales information on the volume of each type of medicines, the proportion of prescription-only vs. over-the-counter drugs, and the proportion of antibiotics by WHO AWaRe (Access, Watch, Reserve)
Upgraded Pharmacy Management Software awaits launch Read More »
DGDA uses an Automated Drug Licensing System (ADLRS) to issue new and renewal drug licenses, the development of which BHB supported. In the past few months, the ADLRS has received substantial improvements, which BHB demonstrated to DGDA officials and WHO staff working with DGDA. DGDA officials find the new ADLRS interface to be simpler, more
New features in DGDA’s automated drug licensing and renewal system Read More »
The National Parliament of Bangladesh passed the Drug and Cosmetics Act 2023 on 7 September 2023, which was published as a national gazette on 18 September 2023 (Law No. 29 of 2023). BHB’s staff members worked closely with the Directorate General of Drug Administration (DGDA) during the drafting and fine-tuning of this law, which was
National Parliament of Bangladesh enacts Drugs and Cosmetics Act 2023 Read More »
On 25 September 2023, BHB celebrated World Pharmacists Day 2023 at its Dhaka office with 25 pharmacy professionals from different parts of Dhaka city and BHB team members. This year’s theme was “Pharmacists strengthening health systems”. The theme recognised pharmacists’ remarkable contributions during the COVID-19 pandemic and commemorated their overall contributions to health care systems
BHB celebrates World Pharmacists Day 2023 Read More »
BHB, with the funding support from the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, is providing technical assistance to Directorate General of Medical Education (DGME) to develop its management information system (MIS). An information technology (IT) consulting firm, Activation Ltd., has been working on it since December 2021 and has almost completed development of all modules,
DGME gets important and timely statistics from its management information system Read More »
The BHB eLearning platform includes coursework on good pharmacy practice, antimicrobial resistance, and establishment of model pharmacies and model medicine shops, etc. BHB consistently works to add new courses and improve existing contents and design. In September 2023, BHB held two online events to garner feedback from participants of the eLearning platform. The 35 total
BHB exchanges views with eLearning platform participants Read More »
BHB’s eLearning platform has 28 courses designed for pharmacy professionals but available to anyone; to now, 1,294 participants have completed different courses. During September and October 2023, 13 participants completed the course on Basic Principles of Medicine Management, 15 participants on Good Dispensing Practice and 29 on Medication Error and Rational and Irrational Use of
Update on the BHB eLearning platform Read More »
BHB wanted to replace its project-tracking software, so a BHB Senior Technical Adviser on Information, Communication, and Technology developed similar software in-house. BHB transitioned to the new tool on 01 September 2023. The software tracks the team members’ activities and tasks with respect to start date, due date, completion date, percentage of progress, on track
BHB introduces new project-tracking software Read More »
BHB helped the DGDA to develop the Automated Drug Licensing and Renewal System (ADLRS) to digitalize the DGDA’s manual drug licensing system. Based on user experience, BHB is enhancing the software. Because this online system is convenient, medicine shop owners are increasingly using it to submit application for drug licenses. By the end of August
ADLRS use is increasing Read More »
BHB offers an 80-hour refresher training course on GPP to the country’s medicine dispensers who meet certain basic criteria. FCDO provides financial support for this training; 11,577 medicine dispensers have received the refresher training, and an additional 2,500 will be trained by the end of 2023. BHB commissioned ICDDR,B to assess the effects of the
BHB’s e-Learning platform was launched in 2021, and since then, BHB has developed and uploaded 39 different e-courses, with 13 of them available for public access and enrolment. Statistics show that 1,191 individuals have completed one or more of the e-courses. Recently, three new e-courses were added—Basic Principle of Medicine Management, Good Dispensing Practice (GDP),
BHB continues to enrich its e-Learning platform Read More »
The Institute of Health Economics at the University of Dhaka is organizing the International Health Economic Conference 2023 in Dhaka from 12 to 13 September 2023. The event will be held at the Senate Auditorium, Nabab Nawab Ali Chowdhury Senate Bhaban on the university campus. BHB’s donor, the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO),
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a growing global concern. It is widely believed that if the irrational use of antibiotics is not controlled, most antibiotics, including the newer ones, will no longer be effective against bacteria. In addition, because antibiotics yield few or no profit for the pharmaceutical industry, they have little interest in doing research
BHB is carrying out its third round of medicine shop pre-assessments to help the Directorate General of Drug Administration (DGDA) accredit another 3,500 model pharmacies or model medicine shops. To be eligible for accreditation, during the pre-assessment, shops must meet three basic criteria, viz., a valid drug license, a registered medicine dispenser, and minimum shop
BHB achieves medicine shops’ third round pre-assessment target of 3,000 shops Read More »
