Peace Winds’ Bangladesh Clinic Provides Medical Assistance to Rohingya Refugees

More than 650,000 Rohingya people have evacuated to the southeastern Bangladesh due to the armed conflict in the Rakhine State of Myanmar. Refugees, 20,000 a day at its peak, have been arriving since the conflict worsened in August 2017. The hospitals, shelters, and other infrastructure in the area do not have the capacity to accommodate the refugees currently living in camps on the Bangladesh border.

Peace Winds has built a clinic in the Ukhiya camp and is providing medical assistance to the most vulnerable, including women and children. Peace Winds manages the clinic in cooperation with the local medical group Dhaka Community Hospital Trust (DCHT). DCHT operates several hospitals in Bangladesh with highly trained staff. People in this area are familiar with Peace Winds and DCHT because both organizations were providing medical supplies and doctors to treat patients in the camps. This clinic opened January 10, 2018.

The clinic supports general outpatient needs and maternal and child healthcare. Mothers with small children were a majority of those who first visited the clinic after its opening. Today many people visit the clinic for common colds, diarrhea, malnutrition, and other health problems aggravated by or a result of the living conditions of the camps.

Many Rohingya people have never been to a hospital.  Home births are common but pose risks to the mother and child if complications arise.   Peace Winds and DCHT medical staff still travel to camps to provide medical assistance and treatment to people but encourage future, scheduled check-ups at the clinic. After many malnourished children and pregnant women visited the clinic, Peace Winds is focusing on nutrition and distributing goods in the camps.

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