I recently returned to the UK after being in Bangladesh for a few months.
Whilst there, I was made aware of the UK daily death rate in January averaging over 1000. Sadly, the total figure now stands at 121,747.

At the same time, the very positive news was that the NHS was combatting Covid-19 by speedily vaccinating the nation, a staggering 18 million have been given the injection to date.
As pleasing as this was to hear, recent data shows that amongst Black, Asian and Mixed-Ethnicity people there was significantly less take up of the vaccination. It was 71.5% between 8 December and 14 February, compared to 85.6% in the white ethnic group.
Many leading medical people in the UK are really concerned that fewer BAME people are getting the covid vaccine. Social media has not helped this crisis.

I had my first dose of the vaccination and can report that the procedure was straightforward, professional, painless and very easy. As for all the scare stories and disinformation being circulated, I dismiss them and full heartedly back the vaccine’s importance in helping our communities get back to normality and that it genuinely saves lives. Please no if’s or but’s, just attend when that appointment is offered to you, it is the only way forward for us and our families.

We are in unprecedented times at the moment with this pandemic and the fact remains that this virus disproportionately affects people from ethnic minority communities.
We must all play our part in helping members of our community that are scared or resistant to taking the vaccine. As a matter of the utmost importance, please engage and encourage one another to do what is best.

Wishing you all happier and healthier times.

Bajloor Rashid MBE

UKBCCI Director & Former (Founding) President

The US based Stanford University has recently released a list that represents the top 2% of the most- cited scientists in various disciplines. The exhaustive list has approximately 160,000 researchers including scientists, doctors and engineers in the world. Stanford examined the work of more than seven million scientists across 22 subject fields between 1996 and 2019.
Professor Parvez Haris of De Montfort University, Leicester has been recognised as one of them.
Mr Haris was named a winner in the UKBCCI Business and Entrepreneur Excellence Awards 2019. He won the Business Innovation Award for his research highlighting a link between high consumption of rice and arsenic poisoning also for the impact he and his research has had, with pharmaceutical and agricultural industries both incorporating his findings into their practices.
Our heartiest congratulations to Professor Parvez Haris for his achievements.

The UKBCCI London Regional President Oli Khan has been honoured in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list with an MBE.

Oli, a celebrity chef, was chosen for services to the hospitality industry and charity in the UK and abroad.

The Luton based businessman and award winning chef, famous for being a Guinness World Record holder with his team for cooking the world’s largest onion bhaji, was also recognised for his crucial role in supporting communities during the COVID-19 lockdown earlier this year. The awards this year focused on those individuals who went above and beyond in response to the crisis.

He supported frontline staff by providing 5,000 meals to NHS front line, disabled people and key workers.