Rafiqul Islam ( – 5 March 2018) was a Bangladeshi physician and medical scientist. He is known for the discovery of food saline (Orsaline) for the treatment of

diarrhea Diarrhea, also spelled diarrhoea, is the condition of having at least three loose, liquid, or watery bowel movements each day. It often lasts for a few days and can result in dehydration due to fluid loss. Signs of dehydration often begin wi ...

Early life and education

Islam was born in 1936 in the then British India's Bengal Presidency (now Bangladesh) in Chauddagram Upazila,

Comilla Comilla (; bn, কুমিল্লা, Kumillā, ), officially spelled Cumilla, is the fifth largest city of Bangladesh and second largest in Chittagong division. It is the administrative centre of the Comilla District. The name Comilla was ...

. He passed

MBBS Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery ( la, Medicinae Baccalaureus, Baccalaureus Chirurgiae; abbreviated most commonly MBBS), is the primary medical degree awarded by medical schools in countries that follow the tradition of the United King ...

from

Dhaka Medical College and Hospital Dhaka Medical College and Hospital (abbreviated DMCH) is a public medical college and hospital located in Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh. It houses medical school as well as a tertiary care hospital on one campus. The country's first ev ...

in 1965. Later, he received high education in Trinity Medicine and Hygiene in Trinity (UK).

Career

After passing MBBS, Islam joined the International Center for Diarrheal Disease Research, Bangladesh and retired from this institution in 2000. While working in this organization, he researched various medicines. One of his most important inventions is the food saline (Orsaline). When

cholera Cholera is an infection of the small intestine by some strains of the bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea that lasts a few days. Vomiting and ...

spread in the refugee camps of

West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fourt ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

during the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971, only therapeutic (intravenous) fluid was given to the vein as treatment. But due to the lack of intravenous fluid, it was possible to recover from the disease with its saline disinfected. After the independence of Bangladesh, a widespread publicity campaign was conducted on the use of saline in the treatment of

. As a result, it was also known as "Dhaka Saline". In the year 1980, the

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of h ...

recognized Orsaline. Besides, Bangladeshi non-government organization BRAC played the role of spreading food saline to the remote areas of Bangladesh.

References

1936 births 2018 deaths Bangladeshi scientists Dhaka Medical College alumni People from Comilla District {{Bangladesh-scientist-stub