March 5, 2019 – Four members team from Kyushu University, Japan has recently visited Bangladesh under Maternal and Child Healthcare (MCH) program, a new module of Portable Health Clinic (PHC) in GramHealth service. The field research conducted during Feb 13–17, 2019 covering both rural (Chhaygaon union of Shariatpur district) and urban (Dhaka) areas. The objective of the visit was to overview the overall healthcare situation in these areas. The team consisted of Dr. Rafiqul Islam Maruf (Associate Professor, Medical Information Center, Kyushu University Hospital), Dr. Kimiyo Kikuchi (Lecturer, Institute of Decision Science for a Sustainable Society (IDS3), Kyushu University), Dr. Rieko Izukura (Assistant Professor, Medical Information Center, Kyushu University) and Ms. Masuda Begum Sampa (PhD student, Kyushu University). The team was assisted by Global Communication Center (GCC).

During their visit, on first day, they met Prof. Muhammad Yunus, Ms. Nazneen Sultana, Managing Director of Grameen Communications and MCH support team of GCC. They also met Ms. Niru Shamsun Nahar, Principal of Grameen Caledonian College of Nursing. On second day, they moved to Chhaygaon, Shariatpur to observe and find potential opportunity for collaboration with local medical staffs. They had a meeting with Mr. Moktar Hossain, local coordinator of MCH project and health workers of Union Health Complex of Chhaygaon. They also visited several medicine shops of Bangla Bazaar of Chhaygaon and had several interview sessions with selected village women of this project.

On last day of the visit, they visited Gynecology Department of Holy Family Red Crescent Medical College & Hospital (HFRCMCH) followed by a meeting with Dr. Khandokar Ejaz Ahmed, Director of HFRCMCH, Dr. Meherun Nesa, Professor of Gynecology of HFRCMCH and Dr. Sonali Rani Das, Principal of Holy Family Red Crescent Nursing College.

According to the KU team members, it was a fruitful visit indeed in terms of field study purpose and they believe this visit would shed lights on the upcoming activities under this project.