Four years ago, Rehana’s first child, a daughter, was born underweight and faced serious newborn complications. Although she survived, those early days were a nightmare for Rehana Khatun, who was unaware of the reasons behind her child’s complexities.
Now, Rehana Khatun, a 29-year-old from Koyra Union in Khulna, is preparing to welcome her second child. As a member of the PPEPP-EU project, she receives regular guidance on healthcare for pregnant mothers from Community Nutrition and Health Promoters (CNHPs). Recently, she attended a specialised Health Camp organised by the project, where she consulted with a gynaecologist.
During this consultation, Rehana gained valuable insights into the importance of proper healthcare for pregnant women, adequate nutrition, healthy eating habits, and the significance of rest and sleep. She has since incorporated nutritious foods rich in iron, vitamins, calcium, and iodine into her diet, along with sufficient rice and water. Furthermore, she diligently visits the local Upazila Health Complex for her antenatal checkups (ANC) and takes Iron Folic Acid and calcium supplements.
‘This time, I expect to give birth to a healthy baby free from all kinds of complications’, stated Rehana after she visited the gynaecology health camp organised by Nawabenki Ganamukhi Foundation (NGF), a partner of the PPEPP-EU project.
In Bangladesh, malnutrition and poor health are deeply rooted in poverty and a lack of awareness about proper healthcare. Many individuals, like Rehana, living in remote areas face significant challenges in accessing essential services such as Antenatal Checkups (ANC) and Postnatal Checkups (PNC). Limited knowledge about proper nutrition during pregnancy further exacerbates the issue, often resulting in malnourished childbirths. These vulnerable populations are frequently unable to access even basic healthcare due to the shortage of trained service providers and essential supplies, including medicines.
To address these pressing issues, the PPEPP-EU project has prioritized tackling intergenerational undernutrition among extremely poor households. Central to this effort is ensuring the “1,000 golden days” time period, which focuses on providing comprehensive ANC, PNC, and Infant and Young Child Feeding (IYCF) support for children under five (U5). This targeted intervention has led to significant reductions in stunting, wasting, and underweight rates among U5 children. Moreover, the immediate impact of ANC services for pregnant women has resulted in marked improvements in addressing low birth weight rates. These outcomes underscore the project’s vital role in improving maternal and child health in some of the most underserved communities.
To tackle these challenges and improve healthcare accessibility, the PPEPP-EU project collaborates with implementing partners to organise special health camps across its 145 working unions in 12 districts.
These health camps provide reproductive healthcare services, eye care, essential treatments, medicines, and referrals for various age groups, such as pregnant and lactating women, adolescent girls, children, and the elderly.
Recently, PPEPP-EU has initiated distribution of essential medicines free of charge to its members through satellite clinics, focusing on pregnant and lactating women, children under five and adolescent girls. This initiative is a significant support for these extremely poor communities responding to their common health problems, seasonal and geographic variation of sickness, massive demand for medicines among the intersectional groups, and irregular supply of necessary medicines in the local health facilities.
PPEPP-EU’s health camps take place frequently in remote areas where local healthcare facilities may be nonexistent or poorly functional due to lack of staff, equipment and supplies. Specialised doctors from nearby facilities conduct these camps with support from the trained health workers of the project.
So far, over 113,697 extremely poor people have received treatments and medicines through PPEPP-EU’s 1447 health camps organised in the project’s catchment areas.