'A milestone' as sports medicine clinic established at BSMMU

A sports medicine clinic under the physical medicine and rehabilitation department was officially established at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) on Thursday In order to provide more support to athletes recovering from injuries.

Jahid Ahsan Russell, the state minister for youth and sports, was the chief guest at the clinic's opening, while Syed Shahed Reza, the secretary general of the Bangladesh Olympic Association, attended as a special guest.

Before the opening ceremony, a discussion meeting was presided by professor Dr. Md. Sharfuddin Ahmed, vice chancellor of BSMMU and president of the Bangladesh Association of Sports Medicine (BASM). Professor Dr. Md. Ali Emran, secretary general of BASM, emphasized the importance of establishing a sports medicine clinic at BSMMU.

"I think the long-standing issue will be resolved with the opening of the sports medical clinic because there was very little chance for the athlete to receive specialized care. I believe it has been a milestone in the country," Russell remarked.

Shahed Reza, secretary general of the BOA, commended the initiative and stated, "It has been a specialist matter and the sports medicine clinic will turn into a hospital one day, I believe. Bangladesh Olympic is prepared to assist the sports medical clinic by sending its physicians to get training abroad, as we are frequently invited to do."

Reza further requested the responsible authorities to come forward and have the doping tests conducted at BSMMU, as they frequently travel to India for sports doping tests.    

"During the presentation before the University Grand Committee in need of having a sports medicine post at BSMMU in 2021, I collected some data that saw there were some 60 thousand athletes under more than 50 federations and associations. Unfortunately, there was no registered institute for their treatments related to sports and there was also no clear picture of how the athletes took their treatments," said Emran, the lone professor on sports medicine at BSMMU.

Emran also informed that they would emphasise on the sportsperson, sports trainers, sports organisers and sports officials at their clinic as all of them have to come through their respective sports federations or associations.