The use of Bubble Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (bCPAP) is expanding across hospitals in Bangladesh, with six facilities already treating children with severe respiratory distress and 29 children receiving care as of April 7.
Early use of the low-cost intervention has helped stabilize children who would otherwise face a high risk of complications requiring more complex and less accessible treatment.
Developed by Dr Mohammod Jobayer Chisti, senior scientist, and colleagues at icddr,b, bCPAP is a simple breathing support system that helps keep the lungs open and improves oxygen delivery in children with severe pneumonia and hypoxemia (low oxygen in the blood).
The scale-up is being implemented under the leadership of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), in collaboration with the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), with icddr,b serving as the technical partner.
To support rapid adoption, icddr,b has conducted a series of hands-on trainings, with Wednesday’s session marking the third training in the initial phase.
Held at icddr,b in Dhaka, the training brought together 30 healthcare providers from DNCC Dedicated COVID-19 Hospital, Dhaka; Sylhet MAG Osmani Medical College Hospital; Uttara Adhunik Medical College Hospital; Jahurul Islam Medical College & Hospital; Cumilla Medical College Hospital; Kushtia Medical College Hospital; Magura Medical College Hospital; and district sadar hospitals in Brahmanbaria, Netrokona, Chandpur, Madaripur, Munshiganj, and Shariatpur.
With this, more than 75 doctors and nurses have now been trained across over 30 hospitals nationwide, enabling facilities to initiate use immediately following training.
Delivering the welcome address, Acting Executive Director of icddr,b Dr Thaddaeus David May appreciated the government’s leadership in advancing the life-saving intervention. He said bCPAP, developed through research in Bangladesh, is now saving lives not only at icddr,b Dhaka Hospital but also in several countries in Africa, demonstrating its effectiveness in resource-constrained settings.
Dr Muhammad Mustafizur Rahaman, joint secretary of the Health Services Division, MoHFW, attended as chief guest and thanked icddr,b for developing the life-saving innovation. He said the timely use of Bubble CPAP is already helping reduce deaths and complications from measles-induced pneumonia and respiratory distress, and emphasized the importance of scaling up its use across hospitals.
The session was chaired by Professor Dr Chowdhury Ali Kawser, chief honorary consultant at icddr,b Dhaka Hospital.
He, along with Dr Chisti, outlined the standard operating procedures for the safe and effective use of Bubble CPAP, emphasizing early initiation in children with respiratory distress and hypoxemia, appropriate patient selection, close monitoring of oxygen saturation and respiratory effort, and timely escalation or referral when required.
They stressed that strict adherence to these protocols by healthcare providers is essential to maximize treatment outcomes and ensure patient safety.
Hospitals across the country are being encouraged to adopt bCPAP for managing children with respiratory distress.
icddr,b is providing bCPAP setups free of cost, along with hands-on training and a dedicated clinical support hotline to support implementation.
Going forward, icddr,b, in coordination with MoHFW and DGHS, will conduct on-site visits to hospitals in Rajshahi, Barguna, Mymensingh, Sylhet, Chattogram, and Natore to provide direct training, mentorship, and monitoring of implementation.
icddr,b remains committed to supporting the government in expanding access to this life-saving intervention to reduce preventable child deaths during the ongoing measles outbreak and strengthen routine pneumonia care, according to a press release.