AKM Rafiquzzaman, the retired director general of the Directorate General of Family Planning and former head of the National Institute of Population Research and Training (NIPORT), has died in the United States in the early hours of 24 January, according to a family statement.
Rafiquzzaman was born in 1942 in Nangalkot, Cumilla, and began his public service career in 1965 as an Executive Cum Publicity Officer in Khulna district. He later joined the Bangladesh Civil Service in the family planning cadre, rising through the ranks to lead the Directorate General of Family Planning, the government body responsible for overseeing reproductive health and population programmes nationwide.
In addition to his role at the Directorate General of Family Planning, Rafiquzzaman also served as director general of the National Institute of Population Research and Training, a key research and training institution supporting Bangladesh’s family planning and population management strategies. His career reflected decades of involvement in public health and demographic research in Bangladesh.
Outside of his official roles, Rafiquzzaman engaged actively in educational and social development initiatives in his native Nangalkot Upazila, contributing to community uplift and local progress throughout his life.
His death has been noted with respect across circles involved in public health, population research, and government service, recognising his long tenure in leadership positions shaping Bangladesh’s family planning policy and institutional capacity.
Rafiquzzaman’s passing in the United States marks the end of a career that spanned more than half a century, during which he was closely associated with both national policy implementation and institutional development in the field of population and reproductive health.
