A new specialised hospital in Ukhiya, Cox’s bazar will soon begin operation to provide health services for both Bangladeshi host community and the Rohingyas living in the adjacent camps.

The “Ukhiya Specialized Hospital” was constructed and equipped by UNHCR to provide timely specialist interventions for patients in need of lifesaving interventions and those who require secondary care.

Health secretary Dr Md, Anwar Hossain Howlader, Disaster Management and Relief secretary Md Kamrul Hasan and UNHCR Representative Johannes Ven Der Klaauw signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Thursday, committing UNHCR to build the premises of the hospital, provide all necessary equipment, and contribute initially to the personnel costs.

The MoU also stipulates that the health and family welfare ministry will progressively take over the management of the facility and the costs for all human resources, to take full responsibility by the end of a three-year period.

Also read: ADB gives $41.4 mln in grant to help improve infrastructure, manage the basic needs of Rohingyas

The hospital will provide outpatient services for surgery, trauma care, eye and dental care, physiotherapy and palliative care, while it also includes a 24/7 emergency unit, state of the art laboratory and diagnostic facility.

Medical and support staff from the health ministry and UNHCR partner organizations Gonoshasthaya Kendra (GK), Relief International and Orbis will provide services at the hospital.

One specific feature of the hospital is the provision of telemedicine services through virtual consultations and guidance by qualified specialists from the health ministry and UNHCR’s partners, said the UN refugee agency on Thursday.

These services cover inter alia internal medicine, surgery, orthopedics and gynecology. Similar telemedicine services have been initiated as of 18th of June by the health ministry through the Civil Surgeon in Noakhali district, for Rohingya refugees living on Bhasan Char.

UNHCR and the government of Bangladesh have a long-standing operational partnership to improve and expand health service delivery in the Cox’s Bazar district, including through infrastructure development and reinforcing the quality of services.

Also read: Dhaka requests London for resettlement of one lakh Rohingyas

UNHCR established and supported the running of the first Intensive Care Unit and the High Dependency Unit and Severe Ward in Sadar District Hospital in Cox’s Bazar.

UNHCR is currently completing a major outpatient wing of this hospital. UNHCR and humanitarian partners have established 14 COVID-19 isolation and treatment centers in the Rohingya camps and host community.