UK's Better Health in Bangladesh achieves milestone in public health

The British High Commission Dhaka and UNFPA Bangladesh, along with key implementing partners, celebrated the successful completion of the £65 million Better Health in Bangladesh (BHB) programme at an event held at Pan Pacific Sonargaon Hotel recently.

This flagship health initiative by the UK has significantly contributed to improving health outcomes of the people of Bangladesh since its launch in 2018.

The event was attended by senior government officials, representatives from development partners, NGO/INGOs, academia, and beneficiaries.

Better Health in Bangladesh (BHB) programme has also supported the Government of Bangladesh's 4th Health Population Nutrition Sector Programme (HPNSP) through Multi-Donor Trust Funds (MDTF), managed by the World Bank.

As the largest bilateral contributor, the UK provided $37 million to incentivise the implementation of 16 disbursement-linked indicators to enhance maternal, newborn, and child health (MNCH) and family planning (FP) services.

In addition to MDTF, BHB's implementing partners, including UNFPA, WHO, Management Sciences for Health (MSH), and icddr,b played a crucial role in providing technical assistance, generating knowledge, and strengthening health systems. Their collaborative efforts included delivering sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) services, digitalising health systems, building capacities, and developing strategies to address emerging health challenges. The programme also allocated over £12 million to support Bangladesh's national COVID-19 response.

Over the past seven years, the BHB programme prevented 2,835 maternal deaths, facilitated the safe delivery of 18,37,682 babies, and provided modern family planning services to 347,519 women. Additionally, it ensured nutritional care for 420,000 young children, screened over 1 million women for cervical cancer, and accredited 10,345 pharmacies and medicine shops.

The programme also trained 18,651 service providers and community leaders to respond to climate-related health shocks and advanced digital health systems, enabling the vaccination of over 5 million people with UK-donated Covid-19 vaccines.