Abdullah Baqui

Abdullah H. Baqui is a public health scientist who demonstrated the effectiveness of simple but effective strategies to reduce preventable newborn deaths.[1]

Abdullah H. Baqui (left) at Kumudini Medical College Hospital in 2012

Biography

Baqui was born and grew up in Gopalganj district in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh). He graduated from Dhaka Medical College in 1976, and completed his Masters studies in Public Health (MPH) and Doctorate in Public Health (DrPH) from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, USA in 1985 and in 1990 respectively.

Baqui's research confirmed: (a) the use of zinc supplementation during diarrhea to reduce the severity of child mortality.[2] (b) the effectiveness of trained community health workers providing home based health care to reduce neonatal mortality by one-third.[3] and (c) use of Hib vaccination in Bangladesh to reduce the incidence of meningitis and X-ray documented pneumonia in children.[4] Each of these studies has influenced policy decisions. For example, WHO and UNICEF have now recommended the use of zinc as an adjuvant therapy for diarrheal episode. Bangladesh developed a national neonatal health strategy in 2009 that references Baqui's work.[5] More recently a WHO-UNICEF joint statement recommends home visits by trained community health worker as a strategy to improve neonatal survival, based in part on Baqui's research.[6]

Baqui became a professor in the Department of International Health at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in 2009.

In May 2012, the CORE Group honored Baqui with the Dory Storms Child Survival Recognition Award.[7] Baqui also received a recognition award in 2012 from the Bangladesh Medical Association in North America.[8][9]

References
  1. Sarah Boseley (20 December 2008). "Abdullah Baqui: saving newborn lives in Bangladesh and globally". The Lancet. 372 (9656): 2106. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(08)61912-1. PMID 19101375. S2CID 31710483. Retrieved 2012-07-05.
  2. Abdullah H Baqui; Robert E Black; Shams El-Arifeen; Mohammad Yunus; Joysnamoy Chakraborty; et al. (9 November 2002). "Effect of zinc supplementation started during diarrhoea on morbidity and mortality in Bangladeshi children: community randomised trial". BMJ. 325 (7372): 1059. doi:10.1136/bmj.325.7372.1059. PMC 131175. PMID 12424162.
  3. Abdullah H Baqui; Shams El-Arifeen; Gary L Darmstadt; Saifuddin Ahmed; Emma K Williams; et al. (7 June 2008). "Effect of community-based newborn-care intervention package implemented through two service-delivery strategies in Sylhet district, Bangladesh: a cluster-randomised controlled trial". Lancet. 371 (9628): 1936–44. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(08)60835-1. PMID 18539225. S2CID 37787388.
  4. Abdullah H Baqui; Shams El-Arifeen; Samir K Saha; Lars-Åke Persson; K Zaman; et al. (July 2007). "Effectiveness of Haemophilus influenzae type B conjugate vaccine on prevention of pneumonia and meningitis in Bangladeshi children: a case-control study". Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal. 26 (7): 565–71. doi:10.1097/INF.0b013e31806166a0. PMID 17596795. S2CID 24996009.
  5. "National Neonatal Health Strategy and Guidelines for Bangladesh" (PDF). Directorate General of Health Services. March 2009.
  6. "Home visits for the newborn child: a strategy to improve survival" (PDF). UNICEF. 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2018-09-22. Retrieved 2012-07-31.
  7. "Dr. Abdullah Baqui 2012". CORE Group. Archived from the original on 2017-06-26. Retrieved 2017-06-14.
  8. "Bangladesh professor honored in US". Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS). 13 July 2012. Retrieved 2012-07-31.
  9. "Bangladeshi origin health scientist awarded in US". Gulf Times. 17 July 2012. Archived from the original on 2012-07-17. Retrieved 2012-07-31. .
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