Bangladesh is a densely populated country where over 160 million people live in an area the size of Iowa. Rural regions are extremely isolated and excluded from medical services; urban areas continue to experience unplanned and unregulated population growth. About a third of this extremely poor country floods annually during the monsoon rainy season, hampering economic development, and further challenging the infrastructure. Poor sanitation contributes to the spread of disease.

Critical health issues:

• Less than one in ten children has access to proper medical care.
• The leading causes of death – diarrheal diseases and respiratory infections such as pneumonia – are preventable and treatable.

Our Work:

Through a new partnership with the International Center for Diarrheal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b), a leading international health research institution, AmeriCares is supporting the work of a network of hospitals, thereby increasing health care capacity, quality and access.

Since 2002, AmeriCares has delivered more than $7 million worth of medical aid and humanitarian relief to Bangladesh. AmeriCares has worked with Parbatya Bouddha Mission (PBM). a partner that also provides health and social services for disadvantaged individuals in Myanmar. AmeriCares donations enabled PBM to support a primary health care clinic, an orphanage, and medical outreach missions. These programs served over 14,500 people.

Cyclone Sidr and subsequent flooding caused extensive damage to PBM's facilities. The destruction of PMB's sponsored orphanage, school, vocational training center and clinic required more than the organization's resources for repair. AmeriCares provided a cash grant for the recovery and replacement of critical program infrastructure

In 2011/2012, AmeriCares began a new partnership with the International Center for Diarrheal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b), a leading international health research institution. We have already delivered over $2M in aid through the new partner.

In 2007, AmeriCares contributed $1.6 million of emergency medicines and medical supplies to be distributed throughout coastal regions devastated by Cyclone Sidr. Cyclone Sidr remains the strongest recorded cyclone to occur in the Bay of Bengal. The Barisal District, located in southern Bangladesh, suffered the greatest amount of destruction from the cyclone’s violent winds and flash flooding.

Communicable Disease:

In 2004, AmeriCares partnered with the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC) in support of a water purification program. This program allowed for members of BRAC’s women’s microfinance collective to receive training in water filtration techniques and education on the importance of water purification.

Health Care Access:

AmeriCares is partnering with icddr,b to help support a large network of hospitals in Bangladesh by increasing quality of care and in-kind contributions of key medical supplies.

Founded in 1960, icddr,b provides practical, low-cost, lifesaving solutions to health problems in resource-poor settings. The network serves communities in extreme poverty in urban and rural Bangladesh, where millions live without access to adequate healthcare or lifesaving medicines. They have been instrumental in helping Bangladesh reach many of the Millennium Development Goals.

In a three-year effort, the partners are collaboratively training 7,600 practitioners and pharmacists at 16 hospitals in “Clinical Governance” guidelines and introducing standardized protocols and tools for improving the quality of patient care.

This project, a “Clinton Global Initiative (CGI)”commitment” will lead to the distribution of nearly $8 million worth of donated medicines and supplies to a network of 8 private and 6 public hospitals and will establish best practice guidelines for patient care and treatment.

AmeriCares also donates medical products to qualified U.S. health care professionals who are traveling to Bangladesh to provide charitable medical care. Through this program, donated medicines and medical supplies reach impoverished and isolated communities where even basic medical care is inaccessible to the poor or often non-existent. AmeriCares donations cure infections, relieve pain, help patients manage chronic diseases and make life-changing surgeries possible.

Find out more about our Medical Outreach program