Mission to Bangladesh
An INCB mission visited Bangladesh from 16 to 18 January 2012. The mission was conducted by Professor Sri Suryawati, member of the Board, accompanied by Mr. Matthew Nice, Drug Control Officer in the INCB Secretariat. The aim of the mission was to review the Government's efforts to comply with obligations of the three international drug control conventions to which it is a party. The last Board mission to Bangladesh occurred in 2005.
The mission had discussions with senior officials from the Department of Narcotics Control (DNC), the Department of Drug Administration, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Bangladesh Border Guard, Bangladesh Police, the National Board of Revenue, and Bangladesh Customs and their operations at Dhaka's Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport. The mission also visited the UNODC project office, met with representatives from the World Health Organization, visited the DNC Central Treatment Centre, and the Dhaka Ahsania Mission NGO, which provides drug treatment services for high-risk injecting drug users in the capital.
Issues addressed during discussions with senior officials included those related to legislative measures and administrative policies of drug control that have been introduced by the Government, issues related to opiate availability in palliative care, and measures aimed at controlling the movement of precursor chemicals-including those in the form of pharmaceutical preparations-to, from and through Bangladesh. The situation and efforts related to countering drug trafficking, and the provision of drug abuse treatment and abuse prevention were also discussed.
The findings of the mission will be reviewed by the Board at its next session held from 30 January - 3 February 2012 and will be reflected in the 2012 INCB Annual Report, to be published in early 2013.