In Bangladesh’s Climate Threat Hospital Ships Keep Health-Care Afloat

Ever stronger rainfalls prevent the construction of permanent hospitals on Bangladesh’s remote river islands – now two ships bring doctors, medicine and free medical care to islanders.

Floating hospital ships, run by a non-governmental organisation and equipped with medical facilities and doctors, now provide free treatment in Bangladesh’s remote islands on the Jamuna River – known as chars. A system that might be a model for other nations that are facing increasing climate threats.

The islands, known as chars, are constantly changing shape as they erode and reform, a process that is quickening as a result of more extreme rainfall associated with climate change. The erosion makes survival difficult for their residents – mostly poor farmers – and discourages the construction of permanent hospitals, researchers say.

The NGO, Friendship, currently runs two ships and is in the process of building five more floating hospitals with the help of the King Abdullah Foundation, an organisation started by the former Saudi monarch. In all, about 10 million people live on chars in Bangladesh according to the National Char Alliance, an advocacy group.