Dr Trudy Rosenwald, who has worked as a mental health activity manager with Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in Bangladesh, explains the connection between physical and mental health.  

As a ‘flying’ mental health activity manager, Trudy worked across three locations on two projects in Cox’s Bazar mega refugee camp. Almost one million Rohingya refugees are living there after fleeing their homes in Myanmar seven years ago. In this article she talks about the experience of the Rohingya and the importance of mental health support for this population. 

In July 2023, I began working in the Kutapalong Field Hospital (KTP) project, the Balukhali Specialised Outpatient Department (SOPD) project, and the Unchiprang Primary Healthcare (UMS) clinic as flying mental health activity manager. MSF is the largest mental health provider in this refugee mega camp. The number of potential patients can be quite overwhelming, when you realise you're responsible for tens of thousands of traumatised Rohingya refugees living across 33 separate camps.

Since their exodus from Myanmar to Bangladesh in 2017, opportunities for a better life have dwindled further for the Rohingya. The camps’ shelters that they live in were made to be temporary, but after seven years of a lack of maintenance and natural disasters, their living conditions have slipped from hopefulness to a profound sense of hopelessness.