by Lawrence Faulkner

(photo)
I’d read about Muhammad Yunus well before the Nobel in 2006, and always wondered how it was possible to come up with a concept  of something like micro-credit, lending  money to the poorest of the poor, without asking for any kind of guarantee or capital.  Madness.   Yet it has had great success.  People such as him are  compelling.   I’d never have immagined being able to meet him.

Thanks to Eugenio’s vision, on the 8th August 2009 we set off for Bangladesh and Dhaka, for a meeting with Yunus  and his team  to discuss a possible collaboration between Grameen  and  Cure2Children for the treatment  and  prevention of thalassemia in Bangladesh.  Out of a population of around 150 million, there are about 100,000 children and more than 7,000 new births every year affected by this deadly disease, curable with bone marrow transplantation.

The preparation of the meeting was very professional, Yunus had previously met with key people in hospitals and organizations involved in thalassemia and had a clear picture of the situation. The initial meeting took place on Sunday 9th August from 3 to 4pm with Yunus and his close associates, and was essentially to get to know us and to tackle a series of questions about how we thought it would be possible to proceed.

The same day we visited the Delta Hospital, where we met Mr. Ahad Ali, Director, and Dr. Amin Lutful Kabir, Haematologist.  In the evening we had dinner with Professor Waqar Ahmed Khan, of the Center of Thalassemia Dhaka Shishu (Childrens) Hospital, with whom we had an interesting discussion on the situation of thalassemia in Bangladesh.  The next morning we visited the Bangladesh Thalassemia Foundation (BTF), where a meeting was organized with the Secretary General Dr Robin Abfur and some consultants and advisors from the BTF: Professor Manzur Morshed, Haematologist at the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) Dr. Sultan Murad and Professor Masooma Rahman, both Transfusionists.  From the BTF we went to the Red Crescent Society (the local Red Cross), where we met the Secretary General M. Shafiul Alam and blood banking Co-ordinator Dr K. Khaled Jakar.  At 12:30 another meeting with Yunus, his collaborators and key people involved in thalassemia and interested in bone marrow transplantation: Dr Baquirul Islam Khan (Program Manager Grameen Kalyan), Imamus Sultan (Managing Director Grameen Kaylan), Professor
Waqar Ahmed Khan (Thalassemia Center Dhaka Shishu Children's Hospital), Professor Manzur Morshed (BTF and Consultant Haematologist at the BSMMU), Dr Abdur Rahim (BTF), Mr Asis Dhar (Secretary General Thalassemia Welfare Center-Bangladesh, Chittagong) Professor Mahmood Chy (Department of Child Health Chittagong Maa-Shishu-O-general Hospital, Consultant Thalassemia Welfare Center-Bangladesh, and the local Rotary Club President), Dr Sultan Murad and Professor Masooma Rahman (BTF). Professor Yunus gave a concise and flawless summary of the situation and the objectives, and after about an hour long discussion, a preliminary action plan was defined.

It 'been a great experience interacting with these people and we have no doubt that we can achieve great things. In the afternoon we visited Grameen Solutions (Grameen’s Information Technology Corporation) and Lamiya Morshed’s (Executive Director Yunus Center) office, where Eugenio discussed possible ways to maximize the presence of the Grameen social media.  The Managers of Grameen Solutions were presented with web open source IT tools of Cure2Children.
The following morning we went to Dhaka Shishu (Children) Hospital, where we met the Director-General Professor AR Khan (Pediatric Surgeon), and the Director of the Department of Pediatrics Professor Manzoor Hussain, who will ensure maximum interest and support of the largest pediatric hospital in Bangladesh (430 beds!) at the start of the activity of bone marrow transplantation for thalassemia . Professor Waqar Ahmad Khan gave us a visit of the hospital where we were positively impressed by the level of assistance and equipment, e.g. viral molecular diagnosis (real-time PCR) run by a group that made a great impression. This seems to be a good place to start a transplant unit.

In the afternoon we visited a cancer hospital, the Ahsan Mission Cancer & General Hospital, where we met the Director, Dr Syed Gazle Rahim.  The Ahsan Foundation is building a new oncology center where there will also be a department of pediatric oncology.

On Tuesday evening we caught the plane to take us back to Fiumicino, Rome, via Dubai. During the visit we were left incredulous by the experience and potential prospects. Thanks Eugene, Thanks Professor Yunus.

Photos available at Flickr