Dr Sabuktagin Rahman, Associate Professor, Department of Public Health, AIUB attended as an invited esteemed speaker representing Bangladesh, at the Regional Technical Consultation, “Nourishing South Asia | Reducing Anemia in Adolescent Girls and Women of South Asia” being organized by SAARC and UNICEF Regional Office for South Asia from July 9-12, 2025, in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The event was inaugurated by Dr. Harini Amarasuriya, Hon’ble Prime Minister, Sri Lanka. Hundreds of academicians, scientists, program experts representing the World Health Organisation - South East Asia Regional Office (WHO SEARO), global and regional academic and research institutions, have joined hands to support this conference. The conference events brought together senior government officials, national and regional experts, researchers, practitioners, and development partners to deliberate on emerging evidence and innovations, share policy and programmatic experiences, and chart a path forward for impactful regional and country-level action(s).

Dr Rahman facilitated a technical session entitled, “Strengthening Knowledge, Measurement, Research and Learning” where he spoke about the interaction of human biology, environment and programmatic efforts for successful control of anemia. Dr Rahman presented the Implementation Research plan for course- correction of the anemia control programs of Bangladesh over next 5 years. He attended an exclusive invited side event for academicians hosted by the President, Global Development Division of the Gates Foundation, Dr Christopher Elias, where he spoke about the unique geological-human biology interaction which makes Bangladesh one of the most challenging contexts for anemia prevention. He stressed the need for a robust micronutrient survey for Bangladesh which may fix some missing links to anemia control.