State Minister for Health and Family Welfare Zahid Maleque on behalf of Health Minister Mohammad Nasim placed the Bill and it was sent to the respective Parliamentary Standing Committee. The Committee was asked to submit its report within 20 working days.
The proposed law is aimed at tackling any emergency situation related to public health by checking and eradicating all contagious diseases.
Another goal of the draft law is to protect people from communicable diseases as well as taking proper measures to create mass awareness about germs related to diseases like Kala-Azar, HIV, Influenza, Nipah, Ebola, and Typhoid.
The draft law was prepared merging the existing 'The Bangladesh Malaria Eradication Board (Repeal) Ordinance, 1977' and 'Prevention of Malaria (Special Provisions) Ordinance, 1978'.
As per earlier directives of the Supreme Court that had declared all martial law regimes ordinances illegal, the draft law was placed before the Cabinet translating the original law in to Bangla as well as widening the area of its jurisdiction to cover all the contagious diseases.
Under the proposed law, a patient or the affected person will have to be screened and isolated to protect common people from being affected.
The affected person will also have to be examined in the related and specified institutes to detect the type of disease.