The inauguration of the country's first bone-marrow transplantation centre at the Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) on October 20 has opened up a new horizon in the area of cancer treatment here. But the man behind this highly advanced facility is none other than Baimalangshu Ranjan Dey, a specialist in bone-marrow transplant at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) of Boston, USA. He made it a point that the facility had to be a centre of excellence like the one at the MGH. When Health Minister A FM Ruhul Huq proposed that Bimalangshu made good use of his knowledge and expertise in building such a transplant centre in the country of his birth, the renowned physician looked at the minister in disbelief. But seeing that the minister was serious and conceded to his demand that the proposed facility would not compromise on quality and treat patients like their US counterparts in his centre at the MGH is done, he took upon himself the task of convincing the MGH to collaborate with the DMCH in setting up the facility.
The result is for all to see. He has arranged for training of physicians, nurses and machine operators of the DMCH at the MGH and at times experts from abroad came here to impart training as well. So particular has Bimalangshu been that he even hired the architect who designed the MGH centre at Boston to ensure that the DMCH unit become one like the original. All this is because he wanted to make it a world class transplant facility rivalling the very best in the standard of its laboratory, stem cell collection and nursing support. Apparently, he has been successful in achieving his objectives so far. The challenge however is to maintain the standard.
After Maqsudul Alam, the pioneer of jute's genome sequencing, here is another Bangladeshi expatriate who has returned the country a gift of invaluable order. Their contribution to the land of their origin will make the country a far better place than it was. The priceless contribution is more out of love for the land than from consideration for personal gain on the part of the two men. What they have achieved by way of their research and devotion to their respective subjects ranks at the top of human achievement. But surely they felt in some corner of their hearts a gnawing dissatisfaction that their achievement could not benefit their compatriots at home. So they responded to the call of the motherland and serve it. In their mission they have been successful.
These two exceptional men of high calibre are not special because they are just pioneer or specialist in their respective fields but also because of the will to give something in return to the country where they were born. There are more such high achievers from Bangladesh, who are now engaged in research or similar other exercise abroad carrying the baton of Bangladesh. If they followed in the footsteps of Maqsudul and Bimalangshu, the country could have gained knowledge and technology currently beyond its reach. It is the only way of offsetting the impact of brain drain from developing nations like Bangladesh. Let their talent get nurtured in the universities or laboratories of the rich nations for the benefit of mankind. But then in recognition to indebtedness to their land of birth let them also share some of their knowledge and achievement so that the poor nation can make good use of it.
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