02/18/2022 Bangladesh (International Christian Concern) – Caritas Bangladesh is the Bangladesh chapter of the Catholic charity Caritas Internationalis. Nearly a year ago, they started a healthcare initiative for pregnant women. Funded by the Macau diocese, the project aims to improve the health and nutrition status of the underprivileged in rural Bangladesh. Previously, medical care in the rural and remote regions of the country was virtually non-existent, meaning pregnant women in the area rarely saw a doctor. A 23-year-old woman from the region was six months pregnant before she consulted with a doctor.

A Catholic mother of two described the situation to UCA News, “The only hospital is about five kilometers away from here. I used to think that there was no need to get tested by a doctor during pregnancy. But now I realize that if I get myself examined regularly, my baby and I will be healthy.”

The health manager for Caritas Bangladesh, Dr. Edward Pallab Rozario, stated the achievements of the initiative last April, “Caritas Bangladesh is working on health care for about 1,000 pregnant and adolescent women in two districts of the country, Dinajpur and Netrokona.” Since then, the initiative is providing health awareness and services to about 30,000 pregnant women, adolescents, and HIV-AIDS patients through a dozen health projects.

Mohammad Sharif, director of the maternal and child health program at the department of family planning, told UCA News: “Reducing maternal mortality is a great achievement, but it is really possible to reduce it further. It is not desirable for a mother to die while giving birth to a child or not having access to proper health care during pregnancy.”

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