New York, 7 April 2025-Professor Md. Sayedur Rahman, Special Assistant to the Chief Adviser for the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare called for increased investment in universal health and well-being for all, including targeted initiatives for youth while delivering Bangladesh’s national statement at the 58th session of the Commission on Population and Development (CPD58) at the United Nations Headquarters in New York today.      In his statement, Professor Rahman highlighted the potential of leveraging social business models by engaging enterprises to reinvest profits into expanding healthcare access, driving innovation in service delivery, and empowering communities. He further reaffirmed Bangladesh’s commitment to global cooperation stating that as a former Chair and current member of the UNFPA Executive Board, Bangladesh is ready to share its experiences and lessons learned, particularly in the areas of maternal health, gender equality, and climate-resilient health systems. Professor Rahman also spoke at a high-level side event titled “Improving Health and Well-being for Women and Newborns”, organized by UNFPA.

He underscored the critical role of midwives in improving maternal and newborn health and reiterated Bangladesh’s commitment to midwifery education, training and creating more midwifery positions for accelerating progress towards achieving SDGs. Bangladesh currently has around 3,000 professional midwives in service, with ongoing efforts to increase this number further, he added.  Professor Sayedur Rahman is on an official visit to New York to attend the 58th session of the Commission on Population and Development, being held from 7–11 April 2025. The delegation includes Dr. Sarwar Bari, Secretary of the Medical Education and Family Welfare Division, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and Ms. Shireen Parvin Huq, Chair of Women Affairs Reforms Commission.