Online Desk: Gonoshasthya Kendra founder and trustee Dr Zafrullah Chowdhury’s body was taken to Central Shaheed Minar in the capital for people from all strata to pay their last respect. Politicians from different parties, doctors, journalists, intellectual and people from all strata gathered on the Shaheed Minar premises to pay their last tribute for Dr Zafrullah. The body will be kept there till 1pm. Dr Zafrullah Chowdhury will be given guard of hounour. The first namaj-e-janaza for the valiant freedom fighter will be held at Suhrawardy Udyan at 2:30pm.

Dr Zafrullah Chowdhury breathed his last at about 11.15pm on Tuesday (April 11) while undergoing treatment at Gonoshasthaya Nagar Hospital in the capital at the age of 81. He had been suffering from kidney complications for a long time.

He was a well-known Bangladeshi physician and public health activist. He received his medical degree from Dhaka Medical College in 1966 and later received a master’s degree in public health from Johns Hopkins University in the United States. He was in surgical training in London when the Liberation War of Bangladesh erupted in 1971. Hurrying home, he established a field hospital with his colleagues to treat battle casualties. In 1972, he founded Ganashasthaya Kendra with the aim of providing healthcare services to underserved communities in Bangladesh.

In 1985, he won the Ramon Magsaysay Award in Community Leadership category for “engineering Bangladesh’s new drug policy, eliminating unnecessary pharmaceuticals, and making comprehensive medical care more available to ordinary citizens”.

Dr Zafrullah had also been involved in various other social and political activities throughout his life and advocated for human rights, democracy, and social justice in Bangladesh. He has received numerous awards and honours for his contributions to public health and social welfare.