Project profile — Bangladesh Health Commodities

• Bangladesh (100.00%)

• Basic Health: Basic health care (12220) (50.00%)
• Family planning:
Family planning (13030) (45.00%)
STD control including HIV/AIDS (13040) (5.00%)

• Gender equality (significant objective)
• Environmental sustainability (cross-cutting) (not targeted)
• Participatory development and good governance (not targeted)
• Trade development (not targeted)
• Biodiversity (not targeted)
• Climate change mitigation (not targeted)
• Climate Change Adaptation (not targeted)
• Urban issues (not targeted)
• Desertification (not targeted)
• Children's issues (significant objective)
• Youth Issues (significant objective)
• Indigenous Issues (not targeted)
• Disability (not targeted)
• ICT as a tool for development (not targeted)

This project improved the quality and delivery of health services appropriate to the needs of the poor, in particular women and children. It consisted of providing reproductive and child health commodities, mainly essential drugs, vaccines, and contraceptives. It was a significant core Canadian contribution to the 2005-2010 Health, Nutrition and Population Sector Program (HNPSP), the sector-wide approach that coordinates contributions to Bangladesh from various donors. Activities of this project ended in June 2011.

N/A

Results as of the end of the project (June, 2012) include: procuring medical commodities such as essential drugs and vaccines through UNICEF, and family planning commodities such as contraceptives through the UN Population Fund, thereby contributing to about nine million children under 12 months of age receiving the oral polio vaccine and seven million women between the ages of 15 and 49 receiving a tetanus toxoid vaccine. This has allowed Bangladesh to be polio-free since 2006 and eliminated neonatal tetanus since 2008. In addition, an estimated 9.5 million children between 24 and 59 months of age received de-worming tablets to prevent or eliminate intestinal worms that rob the body of essential nutrients; approximately 1.2 million children under five received respiratory infection treatment; and 400,000 children received treatment for diarrhea. Reproductive health commodities helped meet family planning needs, helping to reduce the number of children born per woman from 3.0 to 2.7 over the last five years, a key result in one of the most densely-populated countries in the world. These results have contributed to improving the quality and delivery of health services, especially for poor women and children, by reducing shortages of contraceptives, drugs and equipment and increasing the use of essential drugs and vaccines. The project was also successful in directing emergency drugs and medical supplies to high priority areas following the severe floods and cyclones in 2007 and 2009.

• Proactive disclosure
• Related activities:
• Health, Nutrition and Population Sector Programme - Policy Dialogue
• Monitoring Health Projects in Bangladesh