Japan donates three ambulances for Rohingyas’ healthcare

To ensure timely healthcare and medical services, Japan has donated three ambulances to Friendship, a non-government organisation, for providing emergency health services to Rohingyas in Cox's Bazar's Ukhiya upazila.

Ito Naoki, Japanese Ambassador to Bangladesh, officially handed over the keys to Muhammad Shamim Reza, chief legal and financial officer, Friendship, at a ceremony at Friendship's hospital in Ukhiya, said a press release.

Friendship has been working at the Forcibly Displaced Myanmar Nationals (FDMN) camps in Cox's Bazar since the mass influx of the persecuted ethnic minority from Myanmar in 2017.

At the occasion, Japanese Ambassador Ito Naoki said Japan is always by Bangladesh's side with humanitarian aid.

He also hopes that the ambulances will play a vital role in ensuring patient transport and healthcare at the Forcibly Displaced Myanmar National camps in Ukhiya.

At the same time, he praised the Friendship's extant healthcare facilities at the camps.

Dr Golam Rasul, head of the health, Friendship said, "Alongside the Rohingyas, the local communities also have health risks. The ambulances will offer accessibility to 300,000 people from both communities. Access to Ukhiya and Cox's Bazar's other upazila facilities will be much easier now, especially during inclement weather."

He further thanked the people of Japan for their generosity and compassion, hoping for a long-lasting friendship between the people of the two countries.

Cox's Bazar Deputy Commissioner Md Mamunur Rashid, Refugee Relief and Repatriation commissioner Mohammad Mizanur Rahman, Cox's Bazar Civil Surgeon Dr Mohammad Mahbubur Rahman, Ukhiya Upazila Nirbahi Officer Imran Hossen Sojib, Upazila Health and Family Planning Officer Dr Ranjan Barua Rajan, UNHCR Head of Office at Cox's Bazar Ita Schuette, Friendship deputy director of health Dr Rafi Abul Hasnath Siddique, and other associated officials were also present.

Operational since 2002, the Friendship reaches six million people every year, in the most remote areas impacted by climate change, through an innovative, integrated development model.  The organisation's interventions in health at the camps include one maternity centre which is the Friendship hospital in Ukhiya.