Rotary Club of Baridhara strengthens child healthcare support at Bangladesh Shishu Hospital
The Rotary Club of Baridhara continues its long-standing commitment to improving child healthcare services through several humanitarian initiatives at Bangladesh Shishu Hospital in Dhaka, benefiting thousands of underprivileged patients.
Recently, the club handed over medicines to the hospital under its ongoing Medicine Bank initiative, aimed at supporting poor children undergoing treatment, particularly those suffering from cancer. The programme has been running for the past several years with continuous contributions from the members of the Rotary Club of Baridhara.
The medicines were formally handed over by Rtn. Meherun Nessa Islam, President 2025-26 of the Rotary Club of Baridhara, along with Rtn. PP Mosud Mannan, MPHF B, Secretary 2025-26, and Rtn. Ali Ashfaq, FCA, MPHF, Director of Vocational Service, FCA, MPHF, Director of Vocational Service; Rtn. Saiful Huq, FCA, PHF; and Rtn. Taposh Shaha. Other representatives of the club and officials of Bangladesh Shishu Hospital were also present at the event.
The Medicine Bank project was first initiated in Rotary Year 2018-2019, when the club donated a refrigerator to the hospital’s Cancer Department and supplied medicines worth Tk 1,60,000 for poor patients. Over the years, the initiative has grown into one of the club’s signature humanitarian projects. As of the current Rotary year, the Rotary Club of Baridhara has donated medicines worth Tk 11,80,000 to support the treatment of underprivileged cancer patients at the hospital.
In addition to the Medicine Bank initiative, the club has also undertaken several other impactful healthcare projects at Bangladesh Shishu Hospital. During Rotary Year 2023-2024, the club successfully implemented a global grant project under Rotary’s focus area of Maternal and Child Health, providing modern medical equipment to the hospital’s Nephrology Department and Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU). The project, valued at approximately USD 72,000, also included renovation of the hospital’s general renal ward into a Special Care Renal Ward, enhancing the hospital’s capacity to provide advanced treatment to children with kidney diseases.
The equipment provided under the project now enables the hospital to conduct around 100 renal biopsy procedures annually, while approximately 20 patients receive central line insertion services each year. The project also introduced a Continuous Renal Replacement Therapy (CRRT) machine, which provides critical renal support for severely ill pediatric patients.
Earlier, in Rotary Year 2020-2021, the Rotary Club of Baridhara supported the hospital’s Neuroscience Department by providing essential psychometric assessment tools for neurocognitive and neurodevelopmental evaluation of children from disadvantaged backgrounds. The tools, valued at Tk 3,00,000, have benefited 5,946 patients as of February 2026.
Through these initiatives, the Rotary Club of Baridhara continues to play a significant role in strengthening healthcare services for children and supporting hospitals that provide medical care to low-income communities. The club reaffirmed its commitment to continuing such humanitarian efforts in the future.
