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Cox's Bazar – Health services for people affected by the Rohingya refugee crisis in Bangladesh received new impetus this week when IOM, the UN's migration agency, inaugurated two new major health facilities in the country. the largest refugee camp in the world.
A new 33-room hospital with 33 rooms valued at $ 240,000 is now on the site of what was once a small medical post made of bamboo and tarpaulins. Madhurchara Hospital in Ukhiya is the first to offer hospitalization services to refugees and host community members living in a particularly populated part of the camp. There are 20 beds for admitted patients who spend the night.
The center will also provide maternity services to improve access to sexual and reproductive health services; a pediatric specialized care unit for children under 12; a unit specializing in newborn care; and complex laboratory services.
According to Dr. Andrew Mbala, IOM's Emergency Health Coordinator at Cox's Bazar, the hospital will relieve pressure on the Cox's Bazar District Hospital, which is designed to accommodate 250 hospitalized patients, but often has to accommodate twice as many.
Another new primary health care center was also opened this week by IOM in the camp, in close collaboration with health authorities in Bangladesh, who will take over the management and delivery of services. The US $ 120,000 clinic, which will also provide psychosocial and mental health support, will serve people living in one of the camp areas most exposed to landslides and floods.
Together, the facilities will serve areas served by approximately 73,000 people from refugee and local communities. Nearly one million Rohingya refugees now live in camps, often in very precarious conditions.
"Hospital services and comprehensive primary health care are currently a major shortfall in the refugee camp and these facilities will enable us to provide comprehensive care," said Dr. Mbala.
Senior Bangladeshi officials and donor government representatives from Australia, Canada, Sweden, Switzerland and the United States attended the opening ceremony. Australian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Julia Niblett opened the two facilities.
Teacher. A.H.M. Enayet Hossain, Deputy Director General of the Bangladesh Health Department, said trying to meet the health needs of hundreds of thousands of newly arrived Rohingyas at the height of the crisis was "a nightmare". But more than a year later, "the nightmare was over" and, working in partnership with organizations such as IOM, "the dream" of providing better health care was "progressively" realized, he declared.
"These inaugurations mark the beginning of a new important and important phase of IOM's long-term commitment to working with the Government of Bangladesh to increase and improve the delivery of health services in developing countries." Hosting communities and refugees here at Cox's Bazaar, "said IOM's Chief Executive Officer in Bangladesh, Giorgi Gigauri Mission.
For more information, please contact Fiona MacGregor of the IOM Bazaar. Email: [email protected], phone: +88 0 1733 335221.
