Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is concluding its medical program in Dhaka’s Kamrangirchar area after more than a decade of service.
Over the past 10 years, MSF teams have provided critical care to 11,295 survivors.
Kamrangirchar, a densely populated industrial area, will see healthcare services transition to local providers by March 2025.
This handover follows MSF’s global review of humanitarian responses in 2023, which led to the reallocation of resources to better adapt to evolving humanitarian needs.
MSF operated clinics in Ali Nagar and Madbor Bazar, supported the 31-bed government hospital in Kamrangirchar, provided mental health care, and conducted outreach activities to improve healthcare access and raise awareness about occupational health in informal factories.
“Over the last ten years, MSF’s health program in Kamrangirchar has provided medical services to more than 77,000 people working in precarious jobs with limited rights and protections, including nearly 1,000 children under the age of 14,” said Christabel Mayienga, MSF medical team leader in Kamrangirchar.
“While some workplaces in Bangladesh are improving, the Bangladesh Labour Force Survey indicates that nearly 85% of these jobs remain hazardous,” she added.
MSF’s decade-long presence in Kamrangirchar has highlighted critical health challenges.
For survivors of sexual and gender-based violence, fear of stigma and a deep distrust of support systems continue to be significant barriers to seeking help.
As MSF prepared to close the Kamrangirchar project, it enhanced support for the 31-bed hospital by helping to launch Basic Emergency Obstetric and Newborn Care (BEmONC), providing logistical and human resource support, and constructing a waste management zone for the facility.
This dedicated assistance will help ensure that patients receiving sexual and reproductive healthcare (SRH) can continue to access medical services.
Despite these efforts, significant challenges remain.
Kamrangirchar’s rapid urbanization, overcrowding, inadequate public infrastructure, environmental pollution, and the vulnerability of its large migrant population — who are often exploited and have limited access to basic services — continue to strain the community’s access to quality healthcare.
"While MSF’s presence in Kamrangirchar is ending, we hope that other organizations will step in to address the persistent gaps in sexual and gender-based violence care and occupational health services, building on our foundation and ensuring continued access to comprehensive care for the most vulnerable," says Christoph Friedl, project coordinator of the MSF Kamrangirchar project.
Since 2010, MSF has provided essential healthcare in Kamrangirchar, initially focusing on child malnutrition before expanding its services to address broader health concerns.
In 2013, MSF shifted its focus from child malnutrition to sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services for teenage girls, care for survivors of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), and occupational health (OH) services for factory workers.