‘Govt refused to accept Gonoshasthaya test kits’

The Directorate General of Drug Administration (DGDA) did not receive the coronavirus testing kits invented by Gonoshasthaya Kendra on Sunday, said its founder Zafrullah Chowdhury.

“Yesterday (Saturday) we took an initiative to hand over the kits to the drug administration for approval. It’s the responsibility of the drug administration to approve those…,” he told an urgent press conference at Gonoshasthaya Kendra’s Dhanmondi office.

The press conference was arranged after the DGDA 'declined' to accept the kits from a delegation of Gonoshasthaya.

Zafrullah mentioned that the authorities refused to take the kits as those are not ‘approved’. “They said the kits were unapproved...but we want to give those to you (DGDA) so that you can check. We’re told yesterday that they (government representatives) would not come to receive those. So, we went there today,” he said.

Three scientists, including kit inventor Bijon Kumar Shil, were denied entry to the DGDA, he alleged. “‘They didn’t accept our kits and instead asked us to return with CRO.”