Bangladesh has made a significant progress in improving the healthcare indicators i.e. under-five mortality and neonatal mortality rate over the past two decades. However, to attain the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the country has to overcome a plethora of healthcare challenges alongside the strengthening of health systems for the overall development of the sector 1.

KEY HEALTHCARE INDICATORS2,3,4,5,6

67%

of total deaths due to NCDs.

31%

maternal deaths due to post-partum Haemorrhage.

23%

neonatal deaths due to prematurity and birth asphyxia.

221

per 100,000 Tuberculosis cases

25%

Human resources for health serves
70%
of the population

221

per 100,000 Tuberculosis cases

  • Hemorrhage and pre-eclampsia/eclampsia account for 31 % and 24 % of maternal deaths in Bangladesh respectively7.Maternal Deaths in Bangladesh occur due to Hemorrhage and 24% are due to pre-eclampsia/eclampsia7.
  • More than 50 % of pregnant women failed to undergo a mandatory four Ante-Natal Checkup (ANC) visits8
  • More than 60 % of women between the age group 15-49 years do not receive post-natal health check-up within 2 days of delivery9

Neonatal deaths in Bangladesh can be majorly attributed to10:

  • Prematurity (30%)
  • Birth asphyxia and trauma (23%)
  • Sepsis (20%)

Under 5 deaths can be attributed to11:

  • Acute Respiratory Infections (15 %)
  • Diarrhoea (6%)

Among infants, nearly 50 % are not breastfed exclusively for the first 6 months12.

Health Systems
challenges

  • Shortage of human resources in health (HRH)
  • Inadequate quality of care
  • Lack of comprehensive data collection tools for frontline workers (FLWs)
  • Limited mechanisms to ensure last mile vaccine delivery and immunization tracking
  • Limited use of technology for biomedical equipment management & maintenance
  • Lack of innovative funding mechanisms for public health programs

References:

  • 1 WHO, 2017 country profile
  • 2 Bangladesh Maternal Mortality and Healthcare Survey (BMMS), 2016
  • 3 UNICEF Bangladesh report on Maternal & New-born Health Disparities, 2019
  • 4 WHO TB country profiles
  • 5 MoHFW HRD 2011, Country Case study (GHWA, 2008, https://doi.org/10.1186/1478-4505-5-1
  • 6 Bangladesh Maternal Mortality and Healthcare Survey (BMMS), 2016
  • 7 WHO data, 2015
  • 8 UNICEF Bangladesh report on Maternal & New-born Health Disparities, 2019
  • 9 UNICEF data 2016
  • 10 WHO data, 2014

  • Limited availability of trigger mechanism for identification and early referral of High-Risk Pregnancies (HRPs)

    • The prevalence of HRPs is 42% in Bangladesh.14
    • Only 47% of pregnant women are reported to have had 4 or more antenatal care visits.

  • Limited availability of skilled Human Resources for Health (HRH) in Bangladesh15

    • Limited availability of physicians (3.05 per 10,000 population) and Healthcare personnel (1.07 nurses per 10,000 population).
    • Unequal distribution of health personnel concentrated in the urban secondary and tertiary care hospitals with 70% population residing in rural parts of the country.

References:

  • 14 Abedin S and Arunachalam D. Maternal autonomy and high-risk pregnancy in Bangladesh: the mediating influences of childbearing practices and antenatal care. BMC Pregnancy Childbirth. 2020; 20: 555
  • 15 MoHFW HRD 2011, Country Case study (GHWA, 2008, https://doi.org/10.1186/1478-4505-5-1
SI No. Name of the pilot Name of the piloting solution Total no. of sites activated Total no of beneficiaries enrolled
1 Introduction of Project ECHO for capacity building of healthcare workers in the areas of case management, critical care medicine and infection prevention and control Project ECHO India 0 0
2 Registration, tracking and management of High-Risk Pregnancies through novel “CareMother” kit CareNx Innovations Pvt. Ltd 0 0

Pilot projects in Bangladesh

  • Name of the Pilot

    Introduction of Project ECHO for capacity building of healthcare workers in the areas of case management, critical care medicine and infection prevention and control

    Problem Statement

    Limited availability of skilled Human Resources for Health (HRH) in Bangladesh

    Our Piloting partners

    Project ECHO India (Indian healthcare solution provider),
    Save the Children International, Bangladesh Country Office (local implementation partner)

    Description of our pilot solution

    Project ECHO is a guided practice model to assess and identify the training needs of the healthcare workers (HCWs) in local communities (spokes) and links them with expert specialist teams at academic institutions (hub).
    It is a platform of simultaneous e-teaching and e-learning encompassing:
    a) interactive teaching and learning
    b) co-management of cases
    c) peer to peer case-based learning,
    d) collaborative problem solving and monitor outcome.

    View Dashboard

  • Name of the Pilot

    Registration, tracking and management of High-Risk Pregnancies through novel “CareMother” kit

    Problem Statement

    Limited trigger mechanism for identification and early referral of High-Risk Pregnancies (HRPs)

    Our Piloting partners

    CareNX Innovations Pvt Ltd (Indian healthcare solution provider),
    Care Bangladesh (local implementation partner)

    Description of our pilot solution

    CareMother is a platform with 3 components:
    (a) antenatal kit – includes 8 portable solar-powered battery-operated diagnostic devices/items;
    (b) mobile App – for use by the health-workers & doctors, and
    (c) web portal – for data management & analysis

    View Dashboard