Veteran freedom fighter, Independence Award recipient, and Gonoshasthaya Kendra founder Zafrullah Chowdhury breathed his last on Tuesday.  He was 82.

Gonoshasthaya Kendra Nagar chief executive officer Monjur Kader Ahmed confirmed that Zafrullah died at 11:15pm while undergoing treatment at Gonoshasthaya Kendra in Dhaka.

A forerunner in the health sector, Zafrullah had been on life support since Monday after his health condition deteriorated.

Zafrullah was admitted to Gonoshasthaya Kendra Hospital after he became seriously ill on April 7.

He had been suffering from kidney disease and lately developed old age-related health complications.

He left behind his wife, Shireen Huq, a member of Naripokkho, and two sons, Bareesh Hasan Chowdhury and Bristi Chowdhury, to mourn his death.

A vascular surgeon, Zafrullah had achieved many prestigious awards and authored several books.

Zafrullah is known more for his contribution to formulating Bangladesh’s National Drug Policy in 1982.

The public health activist, Zafrullah, was born in 1941 in Raujan in Chattogram. He spent his early life in Kolkata, as his father was a police officer.

After completing his matriculation at Nabakumar High School in Bakshibazar, Dhaka, he studied at Dhaka College. He later studied medicine at Dhaka Medical College, where he got involved with leftist political ideologies and was general secretary of the Dhaka Medical College Students' Union.

After a turbulent student life, he finished his MBBS degree in 1966 and left for the UK for post-graduate studies in general and vascular surgery.

While studying at the Royal College of Surgeons in the UK, he joined the country’s War of Independence in 1971.

In July 1971, Zafrullah, with the support of the Bangladesh Medical Association in London and local people, established a 480-bed ‘Bangladesh Field Hospital’ on the war field at Melaghor in Tripura to provide healthcare to injured freedom fighters.

A huge number of freedom fighters took treatment at the hospital.

After independence, he founded Gonoshasthaya Kendra in 1972 to provide healthcare services to underprivileged communities in Bangladesh.

The healthcare centre is now providing healthcare services at an affordable cost across the country through seven hospitals and 50 sub-centres.

Two out of seven large hospitals — Gonoshasthaya Nagar Hospital at Dhanmondi and Gonoshasthaya Kendra Hospital at Savar — were providing advanced treatment, while five other hospitals were giving basic and secondary treatment, and the sub-centres were providing basic services.

Now, Gonoshasthaya runs the largest kidney dialysis unit in the country in Dhaka.

For his outstanding contribution to ensuring healthcare for the poor, Zafrullah earned the title of ‘Poor People’s Doctor.’

In 1977, he was awarded the Independence Award, the highest civilian award in Bangladesh.

In 1985, Zafrullah was awarded the Ramon Magsaysay Award for his contribution to poor people's good healthcare and well-being.

In 1992, he was awarded the Right Livelihood Award for his outstanding record of promoting health and human development.

He also authored several books, including ‘The Politics of Drug.’

Renowned medical journal The Lancet hailed his works as a breakthrough in 1975, in one of their issues, after Gonoshasthaya had started family planning, vaccination, and other basic health services employing young rural women.

The demystification of healthcare and integrated healthcare were first introduced by Gonoshasthaya, which the global community appreciated.

In fact, it became one of the basic pillars of the Alma-Ata Declaration of the World Health Organisation.

Besides the healthcare sector, Zafrullah had also been involved in various other social and political activities throughout his life and advocated for human rights, democracy, and social justice in Bangladesh.

He was the chief adviser of Bhasani Anushari Parishad and was involved in the formation of the Jatiya Oikya Front in October 2018, ahead of the national polls, pressing for the demand of ensuring free and fair polls.

Home minister Asaduzzaman Khan and information minister Hasan Mahmud were among others to express condolences at the death of freedom fighter Zafrullah Chowdhury.