Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)- ICDDRB has instructed its hospitals and treatment centres to stop using glucose and rice-based saline obtained from its Employees' Multipurpose Co-operative Society, an independent registered entity, separately managed by its employees.
The decision has been taken by the ICDDRB management, pending the co-operative's registration with the Bangladesh Directorate-General of Drug Administration, which regulates oral saline under the Drug Act of 1982, a press statement said in Dhaka on Saturday.
"We have no concerns about the quality of ORS produced by the co-operative," said ICDDRB’s Executive Director, Professor John D. Clemens, "but we have contracted an alternative supplier until this matter is resolved."
Chairman of the staff co-operative, Dr Anowar Hossain, confirmed the decision. "The co-operative has stopped production and sale of all formulations of oral saline effective immediately, and we are now in the process of obtaining registration," he said.
The ICDDRB management has confirmed that patient care will not be interrupted during this transition. ORS was developed by ICDDRB (formerly the Cholera Research Laboratory) in the late 1960's, and since then, is estimated to have saved at least 50 millions lives worldwide.
BBN/SSR/AD-12Apr14-9:17 pm (BST)
