Online Desk : The Directorate General of Drug Administration (DGDA) has accorded permission to Gonoshasthya Kendra to test its kits to determine coronavirus infected patients.
The DGDA informed the Ganashasthya Kendra about the permission in a letter on Thursday.
Gonoshasthya Kendra’s founder and trustee Dr Zafrullah Chowdhury has also confirmed it.
“Yes, the Drug Administration has accorded us permission to test with the our kits. The Drug Administration has also asked us to test the kits at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) or ICDDR,B. However, we’ll test the kits at the BSMMU,” he said.
The DGDA has also confirmed the BSMMU Vice-Chancellor Dr Kanak Kanti Barua about the matter, said Dr Zafrullah Chowdhury.
On April 25 last, Gonoshasthaya Kendra handed over its locally manufactured Covid-19 test kits to BSMMU and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for final approval from the government.
Gonoshasthaya Kendra Trust Chairperson Prof Altafunnesa handed over the kits — Rapid Dot Blot — to representatives of BSMMU and CDC at the Gonoshasthaya Kendra Nagar Hospital at Dhanmondi in the city.
However, no government representative was present at the kits handing over ceremony though they were scheduled to be present on that day.
Afterward, Gonoshasthaya Kendra representatives took the kits to the DGDA office at Mohakhali, but none of the DGDA officials was there to accept the kits.
Later, Dr Zafrullah Chowdhury alleged that the Drug Administration is working against the national interest.
Expressing regret, he also said: “Gonoshasthaya Kendra has not given bribe to any individual or organisation during the last 48 years, and it will also not do so in future.”
“We’ll not pay bribe anyone else to test the kits developed by the Gonoshasthaya Kendra, but continue to fight agaist injustice,” he said.
However, the Drug Administration refuted the allegations of Dr Zafrullah Chowdhury, saying that his allegations were false and baseless. Criticism had continued over it at different levels of the civil society. Amid the criticism, the Drug Administration on Thursday accorded permission to test the kits of Gonoshasthya Kendra.
A team of researchers led by Dr Bijon Kumar Shil, head of microbiology department at the Gono Bishwabidyalay, developed the kits. The team included Gonoshasthaya-RNA Biotech Nihad Adnan, Raeed Jamiruddin, Firoz Ahmed and Mohib Ullah Khondokar.
They said they have internally validated the kit after manufacturing and found it to be successful.
“Covid-19 can be diagnosed within five minutes of using this kit,” Dr Zafrullah also said.
