H.E. Dr. Abdullah Al Rabeeah, King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre's Supervisor General and Advisor at the Royal Court visited the Sadar District Hospital in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. His visit was to observe the work under the joint improvement project between the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, World Health Organization and the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre (KS Relief) to enhance health care services at Sadar Hospital for Rohingyas and their host communities.
An estimated 1 million Rohingya and 300.000 people from host community need assistance in the area of Cox’s Bazar and rely on a network of local health facilities coordinated by the Government of Bangladesh and World Health Organisation. All patients with more serious conditions are referred to, and treated at, Sadar District Hospital: the only referral hospital in the area. The hospital was designed and built to accommodate 250 in-patients. Yet on any given day there are between 400 and 600 in-patients and more are expected during the monsoon and cyclone season that begins shortly.
The joint project between WHO and KS Relief will be used to double the number of in-patient beds from 250 to 500, improve trauma and emergency obstetric care services, and out-patient care. Funds will be used to help rehabilitate wards for men, women and children. Additional doctors, nurses and cleaners will be hired to help improve the hospital services and training will be conducted in infection prevention and in treating diseases such as Acute Watery Diarrhoea.
“I am pleased to have the opportunity to visit the hospital today. I have seen for myself the scale of the humanitarian crisis and the impact on people’s lives. The staff are caring for their patients under extremely difficult circumstances,” said H.E. Dr. Abdullah Al Rabeeah, KS Relief's Supervisor General and Advisor at the Royal Court. “KS Relief is pleased to support our long-standing partners WHO to increase access to health care and ensure the Sadar Hospital is better able to treat the thousands of patients coming here it each year both from the Rohingya and host community.”
“We are delighted to receive the visit from H.E. Dr. Abdullah Al Rabeeah. We are looking forward to working closely with WHO and KS Relief to upgrade the hospital, said Dr. Pu Chaw Nu Hospital Director. Together we will improve the health services of our local population and the Rohingya by upgrading the hospital facilities and providing high quality health care for all.”
“Over the next year, the much-needed funds from KS Relief will help upgrade Sadar District Hospital to cope with the increased demand for emergency obstetric care, trauma services and diarrheal disease management, for both in-patient and out-patient services. We look forward to the continued generous support of KS Relief for this vulnerable population to help save lives.” said Dr Bardan Jung Rana, WHO Representative to Bangladesh, a.i.