Rohingya Refugees in Bangladesh

Ongoing Operations

Country Facts

Nearly 1 million Rohingya refugees are currently residing in Bangladesh after suffering ethnic cleansing and persecution in Myanmar.
Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh has among the highest concentration of refugees in the world.
There are over 625,000 Rohingya refugees crowded in the Kutupalong-Balukhali camp in Cox's Bazar.

MedGlobal's Response

We partner with OBAT Helpers and Prantic to run a health clinic in the Kutupalong refugee camp.
We have treated more than 130,000 patients in clinic.
In 2020, we led 10 distributions of medicine, supplies, and equipment to health clinics in the Cox's Bazar camps and host community, reaching an additional 149,000 people.
During the pandemic, we led a series of virtual trainings for health staff in COVID-19 management practices and mental healthcare.
In 2019, we sent 99 health volunteers to Bangladesh.

Helping Babies Breathe

1 in 10 newborns needs help breathing after birth. Helping Babies Breathe is an internationally recognized program aimed at reducing infant mortality by providing life-saving measures within the first minute of birth – the “Golden Minute.”

MedGlobal, in partnership with UNFPA, has provided training to local medical professionals in Bangladesh on Helping Babies Breathe. The course helps birth attendants develop knowledge and skills that they can utilize within the first minutes of life, including identification of a baby in danger and administration of life-saving measures. Part of the training teaches participants to become Helping Babies Breathe Trainers.

BANGLADESH

SUSTAINABLE OPERATIONS

Since August 2017, over 742,000 Rohingya refugees have fled Myanmar to Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. The vast majority of this population are female, of whom 15.5% are pregnant/lactating and nearly 40% are under 12 years old. Epidemics of diseases include Diphtheria, Measles, Cholera, Varicella, and Hepatitis which continue to pose a risk to the refugee population.

Since October 2017, MedGlobal has worked in partnership with local organizations such as Hope Foundation, OBAT Helpers, and Prantic to serve Rohingya refugees in our health clinic. Our field staff on the ground, along with over 100 volunteers from 10 different countries, have provided medical care with a focus on maternal-child health, NCD (non-communicable diseases), sexual and reproductive health, mental health and psychosocial support, and dental health.

MedGlobal has also established training programs, in particular a Helping Babies Breathe training course for local medical professionals in partnership with UNFPA. This course helps birth attendants develop skills that they can utilize within the first minutes of life, including identification of a baby in danger and administration of life-saving measures.

ROHINGYA IN BANGLADESH

On August 25, 2017, several police posts in Rakhine state were attacked. In response, the Myanmar military launched what it called a “clearance operation,” which was essentially a pseudonym for ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya. Since August of 2017, over 800,000 Rohingya women, children, and men have fled the Rakhine State region.Most Rohingya refugees arrived in Bangladesh with only the clothes on their backs. Now, over to 1.3 million refugees have set up camps in difficult terrains with little access to safe drinking water, food, shelter, or healthcare. The need for aid with this vastly growing humanitarian crisis has been overwhelming.

MISSION BRIEF

We are currently sending weekly teams of 4-8 medical personnel to the MedGlobal clinic in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. We are working in partnership with OBAT Helpers to provide Medical Professionals to service their clinic in Camp 4 Kutupalong Refugee camp.

The clinic currently sees close to 2000 Rohingya patients per week providing primary care, emergency, free medications and referrals. We are also working closely with OBAT Helpers to establish training programs for the local and refugee populations.

Volunteer

We are currently sending weekly teams of 4-8 medical personnel to the MedGlobal clinic in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh. We are recruiting medical professionals who can work in a Primary Care setting with preference for the following:

Specialties Needed:

Internal Medicine

Family Practice

General Practitioner

Physician Assistants

Nurse Practitioners

Paramedics

Specialties

OB-GYN

Emergency Room

Infectious Disease

Any other specialists will be considered in the application process but should be ready to work in a Primary Care capacity if selected. Volunteers must commit to a minimum stay of 7 days. We recommend longer deployments if possible

Time Commitment:
1 week minimum

Dates: Ongoing 2019

Apply Here

urgent

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