MSF Focus on Bangladesh

OUR COVID-19 RESPONSE IN BANGLADESH

MSF continues to work together with the Bangladeshi authorities, WHO and other healthcare organisations to limit the spread of the COVID-19 virus.

In the dedicated isolation wards built in our facilities in Cox’s Bazar, MSF is now treating a number of patients who are COVID-19 positive, as well as monitoring others with suspected COVID-19,. We have established a total capacity of 300 beds for our response so far.

In the outpatient areas in our health clinics we have also set up specific waiting areas for patients showing symptoms of COVID-19.

Meanwhile, our teams are continuing health promotion and our regular medical activities remain ongoing.

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Right now, Médecins Sans Frontières is providing much needed support and medical care in over 30 countries to counter the COVID-19 pandemic.

Our teams are also gearing up to confront potential outbreaks in the hundreds of areas we were already working before the pandemic struck. We are deploying medical staff, sending supplies and applying nearly 50 years of experience fighting epidemics to protect the most vulnerable and save lives.

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From the slums of Bangladesh’s capital city to the overcrowded Rohingya refugee camp on the border between Bangladesh and Myanmar, MSF is providing critical medical support.

Healthcare in Dhaka

MSF offers medical treatment and psychological support to victims of sexual violence in Bangladesh’s capital, Dhaka, in the slum areas of Kamrangirchar and Hazaribagh. We also provide reproductive healthcare information for adolescent girls, as well as family planning, antenatal consultations and assisting with deliveries.

MSF is involved in identifying ways to increase access to healthcare for industrial workers (such as those in factories and tanneries), many of whom are exposed to hazardous conditions for long hours.

Vaccination Campaigns

MSF supports government initiatives to expand routine vaccination in displaced persons camps, as well as in Bangladesh more broadly. We immunise against measles rubella, oral polio and tetanus.

Alongside the Bangladeshi Ministry of Health and the World Health Organization (WHO), MSF has vaccinated more than 985,000 people against cholera.

Rohingya Refugee Crisis

Rohingya have been escaping state-based violence in Myanmar and crossing the border into Bangladesh for decades: the Cox’s Bazar district on Bangladesh's southeast coast has hosted Rohingya refugees fleeing targeted violence in neighbouring Myanmar's Rakhine state since 1978.

Refugees arriving in Bangladesh have shared stories with MSF about their villages being systematically raided and burnt by the Myanmar military, of mob groups targeting the Rohingya, and of women and children being raped and killed. Surveys conducted by MSF in refugee settlements estimate that at least 9,000 Rohingya died in Myanmar's Rakhine State between the 25th of August and the 24th of September 2017.

Sprawling, densely populated, and lacking roads and basic infrastructure, aid is still not reaching everyone, while the conditions in makeshift settlements remain extremely precarious and hazardous, putting people at further risk.

The combined population of Rohingya refugees living in Bangladesh in 2018 reached nearly 1 million. The Kutupalong-Bulukhali "mega camp" is the largest refugee camp in the world. Most Rohingya live in precarious and overcrowded refugee camps prone to mudslides and flooding.

Waiting from monsoon season in Cox´s Bazar

The mental and psychosocial impact of what they have experienced, coupled with the difficult camp conditions and uncertainty for the future, mean many refugees face significant mental health issues. © Tosco / MSF

Understanding the Rohingya Refugee Crisis

MSF offers comprehensive basic and emergency healthcare to Rohingya refugees and the local community, as well as inpatient and laboratory services. Kutupalong’s sexual and reproductive health unit treats survivors of sexual violence.

MSF teams are involved in improving living conditions, with a particular focus on improvements to water and sanitation, access to adequate nutrition and shelters, and reducing population density. Water trucking, and the installation of pumps, wells, and latrines are an important part of our efforts to stop the spread of disease.

Diana Galindo Pineda, an MSF doctor working in Kutupalong-Balukhali camp, leads us around the newly opened hospital. © Patrick Shepherd / MSF

Find out more about Bangladesh

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