Getting health to rural communities in Bangladesh.

Bulletin of the World Health Organization | February 2008, 86 (2) Nazma Begum has come to Gonoshasthya Kendra in Savar with stomach pains, travelling several miles from Dhamrai with her mother, Kajali Begum. “About four to five years ago we heard from our neighbours [that] this hospital was good and offered medical services at a low price,” says Begum, “so we made a ‘book’ [insurance card]. All our family members are in it and can get medical help through it.” “It’s very convenient,” adds her mother. “All the tests – X-rays, ultrasonograms, blood tests – are done here and the cost is much less than the private clinics; we always tell people to come here.” Every day up to 300 patients visit the Gonoshasthya (meaning “health for the people”) Kendra (“centre”) outdoor clinic in Savar, about 25 kilometres north-west of the capital Dhaka in central Bangladesh. While government-run hospitals offer low-cost medical care, they are often inaccessible, crowded, understaffed and lacking medicines. Gonoshasthya Kendra serves about 1.2 million people, more than 60% of them poor or very poor.