Dhaka – The Director General of Health Services Professor Dr Abul Bashar Mohammad Khurshid Alam inaugurated two operation theatres and secondary care services at the new Ukhiya Specialized Hospital, constructed and equipped by UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency. The hospital will provide specialist treatment for lifesaving interventions and secondary care for patients living in the Ukhiya area, including Rohingya refugees. “I am delighted to inaugurate the surgery facilities of the Ukhiya Specialized Hospital which is established by the joint initiative of the Ministry of Health and UNHCR. Our Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is determined to provide marginalized people with specialized health care in specialized hospitals. DGHS, along with the Ministry of Health, is proud to bring the specialists from all fields and inaugurate the services”, said Professor Dr. Abul Bashar Mohammad Khurshid Alam, accompanied by the top public health specialists and surgeons from different directorates and hospitals of the Department of Health.
Today Director General Professor Dr Abul Bashar Mohammad Khurshid Alam conducted four surgeries to mark the beginning of these services in the new Ukhiya Specialized Hospital. Senior surgeons from Cox’s Bazar conducted five more surgeries. Surgeries and consultations from multiple specialists will now be available at the hospital in accordance with needs identified in the community. These will include Gynaecology,
Paediatrics, Ophthalmology, Cardiology, Orthopaedics, Dermatology, Dentistry, as well as Psychiatry and Palliative Care treatments. This will reduce the need for patients to travel to Cox’s Bazar or Chattogram for treatment and make services more accessible for people with limited financial resources. The hospital also allows patients access to a laboratory, medical imaging, including X-rays, ultrasound and echography, as well as new telemedicine services which allow virtual consultations by specialists.
The Director General of Health Services and his team of specialists met with UNHCR partners Gonoshasthaya Kendra, Orbis International and Relief International, who are working in this hospital. In the next three years, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) will progressively take over responsibility for the management and resourcing of the facility. “We wholeheartedly thank the government of Bangladesh and the Directorate General of Health Services for providing us with the necessary support to make this hospital a reality. Working together we can improve health services and enhance accessibility for all people living in Cox’s Bazar. Already some 100 patients are receiving assistance on a daily basis,” stated Ita Schuette, Head of UNHCR in Cox’s Bazar.
Professor Dr. Abul Bashar Mohammad Khurshid Alam was accompanied by Prof. Dr.
Meerjady Sabrina Flora, Additional Director General of Health Services; Prof. Dr.
Mohamamd Najmul Islam, Director of Communicable Disease Control; Prof. Dr. Shakil Ahmed, Director of Mycobacterial Disease Control; Prof. Dr. Fatema Begum from Dhaka Medical College Hospital; Dr. Helal Uddin Ahmed from National Mental Health Institute and Hospital; Dr. Mohammad Shamsul Haque, Director of Maternal, Neonatal and Child Health; Dr. Hasan Shahriar Kabir, Divisional Health Director of Chattogram; The Superintendent of Cox’s Bazar Sadar Hospital, Dr. Mohammad Mahbubur Rahman, the Civil Surgeon of Cox’s Bazar; Additional RRRC Mohammad Khalid Hossain, among other key medical professionals from the DGHS.
Source: UN High Commissioner for Refugees