The number of dengue patients is increasing day by day across the country. The death rate is also increasing in line with this. In the last 24 hours, 2 more people have died from the Aedes mosquito-borne disease. With this, the death toll has reached 438. With this, 31 people have died of dengue in a week. At the same time, 458 people have been hospitalized due to dengue across the country.

This information was given in a press release on dengue sent by the Health Emergency Operation Center and Control Room of the Directorate General of Health Services on Friday (November 21).

It is said that among the patients admitted to the hospital due to dengue in the last 24 hours, 20 are in Barishal division (outside the City Corporation), 62 in Chattogram division (outside the City Corporation), 58 in Dhaka division (outside the City Corporation), 114 in Dhaka North City Corporation, 67 in Dhaka South City Corporation, 65 in Khulna division (outside the City Corporation), 22 in Mymensingh division (outside the City Corporation), 47 in Rajshahi division (outside the City Corporation), 2 in Rangpur division (outside the City Corporation), and 1 in Sylhet division (outside the City Corporation).

468 dengue patients have been discharged from the hospital in the last 24 hours, a total of 80,518 dengue patients have been discharged this year.

Bangladesh is keen to work and collaborate with Orbis International, a non-profit organization, to expand eye care and services, said Professor Muhammad Yunus, the interim government's chief adviser.

In a meeting with Derek Hodkey, President and CEO of Orbis International, he said, eye care services need to be expanded in Bangladesh and for this purpose we are ready to work with Orbis International.

This information was given in a press release today (November 22).

Derek is visiting Bangladesh as part of the training program of Orbis Flying Eye Hospital. Derek met Professor Yunus at his office in the capital on Wednesday (November 20).

Orbis Bangladesh Country Director Dr. Munir Ahmed was present on the occasion. The Orbis President presented a model version of the Flying Eye Hospital to the Chief Adviser. Professor Yunus who highly appreciated it.

Derek briefed the Chief Adviser about the work of Orbis International. Orbis started its global vision conservation program in 1982. The organization has been working with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in Bangladesh for the past 39 years.

Derek said that during this period, Orbis has so far conducted more than 7.8 million eye screenings in community outreach events, provided medicines and optical treatment to more than 4.5 million people, including adults and children, performed more than 2,58,000 eye surgeries and trained more than 40,000 people in Bangladesh on eye care.

Professor Yunus acknowledged Orbis’ contribution to the eye health sector in Bangladesh and expressed his gratitude to the Flying Eye Hospital. Orbis is now conducting its 11th training program in Chattogram.

Dr. Yunus said, “I love Orbis. I love Flying Eye Hospital. Orbis is one of the leading organizations in the eye health sector in Bangladesh.”

Derek said that Orbis is implementing vision conservation programs in more than 200 countries and territories worldwide to help individuals, families and communities.

Noting that nearly one billion people worldwide live with completely preventable blindness and vision loss, Derek said that Orbis has been addressing this challenge for more than four decades with strong and sustainable eye care systems.

The Orbis president said that the non-profit organization runs special programs in Africa, Asia and Latin America and provides training and technology.

He said that for the past four decades, Orbis has helped improve the skills and knowledge of local partners in Bangladesh, with a focus on pediatric eye care, microsurgery, retinal surgery, corneal diseases and retinopathy of prematurity and diabetic retinopathy.

Derek also informed the Chief Adviser that Orbis has engaged the community with eye care by establishing 42 vision care centers across the country, especially in rural areas, and has helped establish or improve 17 secondary hospitals, four tertiary hospitals, two wet labs, a quality resource center, and a digital training hub. In addition, Orbis has equipped 400 community clinics with vision screening tools and developed Bangladesh's first national guidelines for the screening and management of retinopathy of prematurity, a leading cause of childhood blindness.

Dhaka: Bangladesh has urged the European Union (EU) to support the proposal to allocate 200 billion US dollars for the least developed countries (LDCs) and the most vulnerable countries to address the challenges of the climate crisis.

The call was made at a bilateral meeting between LDC ministers and EU ministers on the final outcome of COP29 in Baku on Friday (November 22). The meeting emphasized the need to achieve a balanced and equitable agreement through cooperation between both sides to resolve the remaining issues.

In this meeting, Bangladesh's representative, Environment Adviser Syeda Rizwana Hasan, said that many issues still remain unresolved. She also called on both sides to work together to ensure a meaningful and inclusive agreement at COP29.

At the meeting, the LDC ministers highlighted their main positions, emphasizing the need for financial and technical assistance to address the impacts of climate change.

EU ministers acknowledged the concerns of LDCs and reiterated their commitment to addressing climate risks and ensuring sustainable development.

The meeting discussed key issues such as climate finance, adaptation, emission reductions and the global stock take process. The meeting marked an important step forward in ensuring that the voices of the most vulnerable countries are heard and that effective action is taken in the final negotiations of COP29

Dhaka: The Ministry of Expatriates' Welfare has warned Bangladeshi citizens about going to Thailand, Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia.

Some unscrupulous individuals and several scam organizations established in these countries are advertising and distributing recruitment notices through various online channels (fake websites, emails, Facebook, WhatsApp, Telegram, etc.) to recruit people for various positions including computer operators, typists, call center operators, etc., with attractive salaries.

In these cases, scam centers are skillfully taking citizens of different countries, as well as Bangladeshis, into the scam centers and forcibly taking them hostage at gunpoint and engaging them in scam activities.

The Bangladesh Embassy in Bangkok has already been able to send back several Bangladeshis who were released and escaped from scam centers established in Myanmar and Cambodia.

The governments concerned have been requested to take necessary measures in this regard. In addition, the Bangladesh Embassy in Thailand and Myanmar is in constant contact with NGOs and related organizations working on cyber scams in these countries.

Bangladeshis who want to go abroad for employment have been advised to be more careful if they receive job offers related to computer operation in these countries. If necessary, they are requested to verify the detailed information of the employing organization in cooperation with the relevant branches of the Ministry of Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment or the relevant branches of the Manpower, Workplace and Training Bureau in Bangladesh embassies abroad.

In addition, citizens of different countries, including Bangladeshis living in different countries and abroad, are being targeted through Facebook and WhatsApp IDs from scam centers. When Bangladeshis living in the country and abroad invest in the accounts of the fraudsters through crypto currency, the fraudsters immediately embezzle the money by closing the accounts of these transactions. In this regard, Bangladeshis living at home and abroad have been advised to be more careful when using social media.