The Government of Bangladesh, with support from the World Health Organization, is strengthening the integration of noncommunicable disease care into emergency preparedness and response.
In Bangladesh, noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), including diabetes, cardiovascular disease, chronic respiratory diseases, cancer, and kidney disease, account for nearly 71% of all deaths in the country, with almost half occurring prematurely.
At the same time, Bangladesh is also highly vulnerable to recurrent natural disasters and humanitarian crises, such as cyclones, floods, landslides, and large-scale population displacement. These emergencies can disrupt access to medicines, treatment, and follow-up care, placing people living with chronic conditions at even higher risk of complications, disability, and preventable death.
While Bangladesh has a strong emergency response system for infectious disease outbreaks and trauma care, the integration of NCD services into preparedness and response remains limited. Health facilities often lack contingency planning, supply chains are vulnerable to disruption, and frontline responders may not be fully equipped to manage NCD care during crises.
Cox’s Bazar is home to over 1.4 million Rohingya refugees across 33 camps, alongside vulnerable host communities, creating one of the world’s most complex humanitarian settings. Since 2017, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MOHFW), the Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner (RRRC), WHO, and partners have integrated hypertension, diabetes and mental health services into camp-based primary care. These services are guided by WHO PEN-HEARTS and MHPSS protocols, and to date, more than 3.8 million NCD consultations and over 131,000 mental health consultations have been delivered. Innovations such as standardized clinical protocols, task-sharing with community health workers, mobile outreach clinics, and strong monitoring and supervision have helped ensure continuity of care, even in high-risk and protracted crisis settings. These lessons now provide an important model for the rest of the country.
