We are an international health research institute based in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Our research is addressing some of the world’s most pressing health challenges.
We aim to ensure that our evidence and experience is widely shared.
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Dhaka Hospital and our other clinical facilities provide a platform for clinical research, as well as delivering much-needed services to local populations.
Dhaka Hospital was established by icddr,b in 1962 primarily to meet the urgent need to treat patients, particularly children, with severe diarrhoeal disease. It has since grown into a nationally important centre treating more than 140,000 patients a year. It acts as a beacon illustrating what can be achieved by a hospital facility even within a developing world setting.
Dhaka Hospital provides an infrastructure for a wide range of clinical research projects. It also plays a critical role in areas such as disease surveillance, monitoring for antimicrobial resistance and clinical training.
Dhaka Hospital offers a full range of services, particularly for diarrhoeal and respiratory disease, with infants and children representing a high proportion of patients. It delivers outstanding care, saving an estimated 40,000 lives that might otherwise be lost every year.
It has pioneered numerous innovations, including a paperless patient record system, which has also been adopted at Matlab Hospital.
The 120-bed icddr,b-run Matlab Hospital is located within the Health and Demographic Surveillance Site at Matlab, about 50 km south of Dhaka. It provides free clinical care for diarrhoeal disease, maternal and child health care services, treating more than 30,000 people a year.
Matlab Hospital played a key role in community trials of oral rehydration solution (ORS) and early cholera vaccine studies. Recently it has focused on integrated maternal and child health services, and on implementation of evidence-based approaches to maternal and neonatal health that span community- and facility-based services.
