MSF, Doctors Without Borders, MSF activities in Bangladesh

Bangladesh

In 2024, in Cox’s Bazar, thousands of people received healthcare in Doctors Without Borders (MSF)’s eight health facilities.

MSF provided emergency care and sexual and reproductive health services, as well as mental health support and treatment for victims of sexual and gender-based violence

We also treated patients for a range of non-communicable diseases, acute watery diarrhoea, respiratory infections, dengue fever, and measles.

Our activities in 2024 in Bangladesh

Data and information from the International Activity Report 2024.

MSF IN BANGLADESH IN 2024 In 2024, following an upsurge in fighting in Myanmar, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) teams witnessed an increase in the number of Rohingya refugees arriving in Bangladesh, many with violence-related injuries.
MSF, Doctors Without Borders, MSF activities in Bangladesh

Since mid-2022, there has been a significant increase in violence inside the Cox’s Bazar refugee camps, due to conflict over the border in Myanmar. 

In September 2024, the fighting between armed groups reached such a level that we had to temporarily suspend activities in some of the camps for a number of days. MSF teams treated some of the injured. Earlier in the year, we also witnessed Rohingya boys and young men being threatened and pressured into returning to Myanmar to fight.

Scabies remained a major health issue in Cox’s Bazar. In the last quarter of 2024, we saw a sharp increase in cases compared to 2023, when numbers had reduced following a mass drug administration. An MSF-led assessment found reduced chlorination and poor water distribution across all camps, likely contributing to a rise in water-borne diseases.

A study carried out by Epicentre, MSF’s epidemiological centre, published in June, reported a high prevalence of hepatitis C infection in adults living in the camps. By December, MSF and other organisations had committed about 60 per cent of the needed resources to tackle the virus.

In the capital, Dhaka, MSF ran two clinics in Kamrangirchar district, offering sexual and reproductive healthcare, medical and psychological treatment for victims and survivors of sexual and gender-based violence, and occupational health services for factory workers.

IN 2024

 
A picture of MSF assessment team outside the burnt camp in Cox's Bazaar in Bangladesh
Internally Displaced People

Bangladesh: Cox's Bazar Refugee Camp in flames

Press Release 23 Mar 2021
 
MSF Mental Health Centre in Kutapalong Hospital
Mental Health

Bangladesh: Rohingya communities at breaking point

Patient and Staff Stories 25 Jan 2021
 
Mental Health

Living in limbo: Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh three years after the main exodus

Latest News 25 Aug 2020
 
Mental Health

Rohingya refugees left to starve at sea

Latest News 23 Apr 2020
 
Mental Health

"To see people like that just felt awful. It felt like the worst thing in the world."

Patient and Staff Stories 23 Apr 2020
 
Bangladesh

Two Years On: No solutions in sight for the Rohingya

Latest News 21 Aug 2019