Former caretaker government advisor and chairman of PPRC. Hossain Zillur Rahman said that due to rapid urbanization, the demand for healthcare is increasing. And for this reason, integrated health care needs to be strengthened.

He said these things while speaking as the chief guest at the progress and exchange of views workshop on the 'Urban Public Health System Strengthening Program' at DPHE Auditorium in the capital's Kakrail on Monday.

SafeNet Bangladesh organized the exchange meeting with the support of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Bangladesh Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives.

Dr. Hossain Zillur Rahman said, it is not possible to ensure health care by curing diseases. In this reality, Safenet Bangladesh has been praised for taking effective measures to prevent diseases in urban areas. Not only in the metropolis, effective measures should be taken to prevent the disease throughout the country. For this, donor organizations should come forward along with the government.

He also said that this program launched in 2020 has significantly improved public health capacity in 12 city corporations of Bangladesh.

Apart from this, the former advisor of the caretaker government also praised the appointment of public health and epidemic experts in 12 city corporations.

Safenet Bangladesh Country Director Lt. Col. (Retd.) Dr. Mr. Abu Hena Morshed Zaman, Secretary of Local Government Department and Country Director of USCDC Bangladesh Office were present as special guests in the informal exchange meeting under the chairmanship of Syed Hasan Abdullah. I took

Also, the administrators of Dhaka North and South City Corporation and high-ranking officials of the Health Department of the Ministry of Local Government and renowned public health experts of the country were present.

The USCDC SafeNet program has taken several impactful steps to improve urban public health over the past four years. It has conducted public health campaigns focusing on non-communicable diseases such as hypertension and obesity and communicable diseases such as dengue and hepatitis B. Which has played an important role in delivering accurate information to thousands of urban dwellers.

In addition, the program launched a training program called Applied Epidemiology and Public Health Management Fellowship, which provides hands-on training to city corporation health officers and medical professionals, so that they can become more competent in dealing with public health crises.

In addition, an infectious disease surveillance system has been established in six major city corporations, which has significantly increased the cities' disease detection and prevention capabilities, further strengthening long-term public health management.

The experiences of the exchange meeting were highlighted and future action plans were discussed, through which th