Back on 29th May 2014 Aponjon had reached a landmark of 500,000 subscribers only to pick up more speed. In just a matter of 4 months, the subscriber base grew exponentially to one million on 21 September 2014. To commemorate this achievement and to honor invaluable contribution of all development partners, a celebration event was organized on February 5th, 2015.
Mr. Syed Monjurul Islam, Honorable Secretary, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh was present as Chief Guest. Ms. Melissa Jones, Director, Office of Population, Health, Nutrition and Education (OPHNE), USAID Bangladesh also graced the event as special guest. The chair Dr. Ishtiaq Mannan, Chief of Party, MaMoni Health Systems Strengthening Project inaugurated the event sharing the story of how Aponjon grew from being just an idea to the largest Mhealth service in the world followed by the Keynote presentation of Dr. Ananya Raihan, Executive Director of Dnet.
A short Question-Answer session followed the keynote presentation where Dr. Ananya Raihan and Dr Ishtiaq Mannan answered questions from the audience. Afterwards, the audience was entertained with a short audio-visual centering on the theme of “Celebrating One Million”.
Among other guests, DR. Md. Shah Nawaz ADG (Administration) Directorate General of Health Services, Mohakhali, Dhaka, Special Guest Ms. Melissa Jones, Director, OPHNE, USAID Bangladesh and Mohammad Fazlul Hoque Joint Secretary & Director Planning also spoke at the event. They shared their invaluable insights on the importance of such an mHealth initiative and expressed best wishes and support towards Aponjon.
More than 100 guests including 30 high officials from the offices of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and other Leading NGOs and Aponjon partners were present at the event.