Policy, action only as effective as science it’s based on: Miller

Policy and action to tackle any public health emergency like Covid-19 pandemic are only as effective as the science and data they are based on, US Ambassador Earl R Miller said.

The role of the epidemiologists and public health scientists are very important, he said yesterday while addressing the "First Bangladesh Congress on Epidemiology and Public Health 2021" as chief guest in the capital. 

"The pandemic has taught us many things. One of those things is policy and action are only as effective as the science and data they are built upon," Miller said.

The ambassador said, "We can promote mask wearing and social distancing, because we know the science and data tells us it works. We can promote vaccination because the data from vaccine trials and post vaccination surveillance tells us the vaccines are safe and effective."

In his speech, he also praised epidemiologists and public health experts who continue to serve as Bangladesh's frontline of defense to combat Covid-19.

"None of this [framing and implementation of policy and action] is possible without epidemiologists and public health experts… We all want answers to challenging public health questions [about Covid-19] … It is not an easy job."

During the opening day of the conference, Ambassador Miller and IEDCR Director Dr Tahmina Shirin presented certificates of completion to 10 of graduates of the CDC-funded Field Epidemiology Training Program (FETP).

Over the two-day conference, epidemiologists, researchers, public health professionals, faculty of community medicine from Bangladesh and other countries, representatives from different government and international agencies will share experiences in the field of public health and scientific lessons from Bangladesh about Covid-19.