Directorate General of Health Services
Profile
- Head
- Prof Provat Chandra Biswas
- Role
- Acting Director General
- Annual budget
- —
- Staff
- —
- Established
- 1958
- Legal basis
- Established as a Directorate in 1958 under the Pakistani era public health administration; upgraded to Directorate General in 1980 following Bangladesh's post-liberation restructuring of health services; currently operates under the Rules of Business 1996 (Schedule I) as a subordinate office of the Health Services Division, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
Managing the 2026 measles outbreak (55,611 suspected cases, 74 confirmed deaths as of 15 May) with a nationwide emergency MR campaign that achieved 93 percent coverage; simultaneously stabilising the EPI supply chain following a zero-stock collapse across six vaccines, with ~95 million doses of 10 vaccine types procured through UNICEF (US$83.6 million); maintaining dengue surveillance (2,613 cumulative cases, week 18).
Recent activity
- 2026-03-10 appointment Prof Provat Chandra Biswas, urologist from Dhaka Medical College Hospital, appointed Acting Director General of DGHS by the Health Services Division, replacing Prof Dr Md Abu Zafar whose tenure had concluded on 29 February 2026. ↗↗↗
- 2026-03-30 statement DGHS publicly confirmed that central EPI warehouse stocks of six vaccines (BCG, pentavalent, bOPV, PCV, MR, and Td) had fallen to zero; IPV and TCV stocks projected to last only until June 2026; shortage attributed to collapse of HPNSP operational plan system in August 2025 and subsequent procurement delays. ↗↗
- 2026-04-05 policy DGHS EPI launched an emergency measles-rubella (MR) vaccination campaign in 30 upazilas of 18 priority districts, approved by NITAG on 30 March 2026; target: 1.2 million children aged 6 months to 5 years; campaign conducted in partnership with UNICEF, WHO, and Gavi. ↗↗
- 2026-04-20 policy MR campaign expanded nationwide to all 64 districts and all City Corporation areas beyond the initial 30 upazilas; WHO outbreak-setting guidelines applied, lowering minimum vaccination age to 6 months; DGHS reported 93 percent coverage achieved under the expanded drive. ↗↗
- 2026-05-07 other DGHS dengue surveillance dashboard (Week 18, year-to-date through 7 May 2026) recorded 2,613 cumulative cases and 4 deaths; daily case load of 113 cases in week 18; active vector control and hospital bed-availability tracking maintained via public online dashboard. ↗↗
- 2026-05-09 statement DGHS DG Prof Provat Chandra Biswas disclosed at a press briefing that 74 percent of confirmed measles patients were completely unvaccinated and 14 percent had received only one dose; cumulative measles figures as of 15 May 2026: 55,611 suspected cases, 7,416 confirmed cases, 377 suspected deaths, 74 confirmed deaths. ↗↗↗↗
Provenance & notes
DGHS established 1958 (Pakistani era directorate) and upgraded to Directorate General in 1980; confirmed by DGHS official 'About Us' page and Wikipedia. Staff count and DGHS-specific budget not publicly available in any primary source; the parent Health Services Division's FY2025-26 allocation of Tk 31,416 crore covers DGHS operations and is recorded under health-services-division.json. Acting DG Prof Provat Chandra Biswas (urologist, Dhaka Medical College) appointed 10 March 2026 per HSD notification; confirmed across Daily Star, BSS, Bangla Mirror, and Financial Express. 'Acting' designation is a BCS grade-protocol formality: health cadre professors hold Grade 3, DG post is Grade 1; HSD confirmed he fully discharges all DG responsibilities. Predecessor Prof Dr Md Abu Zafar's tenure concluded 29 February 2026. Dengue Week-18 data (2,613 cumulative cases, 4 deaths, 113 week-18 cases) sourced directly from DGHS dashboard. Measles outbreak statistics as of 15 May 2026 (55,611 suspected, 7,416 confirmed cases; 377 suspected, 74 confirmed deaths) sourced from WHO DON-598, Wikipedia outbreak article, and BSS; figure of 74 percent unvaccinated patients from DGHS DG press briefing reported by BSS and Views Bangladesh. MR campaign 93 percent coverage figure from Dhaka Tribune citing DGHS. Vaccine procurement figures from Prothom Alo, The Observer of Business, and Dhaka Tribune cross-checked.
Sources
- https://dghs.gov.bd/
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directorate_General_of_Health_Services_(Bangladesh)
- https://old.dghs.gov.bd/index.php/en/component/content/article/109-english-root/about-us/436-who-are-we
- https://www.thedailystar.net/health/news/prof-provat-chandra-biswas-appointed-new-dghs-dg-4125446
- https://www.bssnews.net/others/367699
- https://banglamirrornews.com/2026/03/11/prof-provat-appointed-dghs-dg/
- https://thefinancialexpress.com.bd/health/govt-appoints-prof-prabhat-chandra-as-dghs-director-general
- https://en.prothomalo.com/bangladesh/yqni6rdl84
- https://tob.news/vaccine-crisis-widens-beyond-measles/
- https://www.unicef.org/bangladesh/en/press-releases/bangladesh-launches-emergency-measles-rubella-campaign-unicef-who-and-gavi-protect
- https://www.who.int/bangladesh/news/detail/05-04-2026-bangladesh-launches-emergency-measles-rubella-campaign-with-unicef--who-and-gavi-to-protect-over-1.2-million-children
- https://www.unicef.org/bangladesh/en/press-releases/protecting-every-child-nationwide-measles-rubella-vaccination-campaign-bangladesh
- https://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/health/409525/dghs-government-ensures-adequate-vaccine-stock
- https://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/health/410134/dghs-measles-infection-reduced-after-vaccination
- https://dashboard.dghs.gov.bd/pages/heoc_dengue_v1.php
- https://denguereports.dghs.gov.bd/dengue/
- https://www.bssnews.net/news/382749
- https://viewsbangladesh.com/74-of-measles-patients-unvaccinated-dghs/
- https://www.who.int/emergencies/disease-outbreak-news/item/2026-DON598
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_Bangladesh_measles_outbreak
- https://www.thedailystar.net/news/bangladesh/news/measles-deaths-climb-451-4176796