The world’s biggest non-government community health provider
BRAC ensures millions of people living in poverty can access primary health care services in Bangladesh, through a network of 100,000 women trained as community health workers. These women provide basic information and services in their own communities, and bridge the gap between people and facilities. The interventions span maternal and child health, communicable and non-communicable diseases, eye care, mental health, disability care, climate-responsive health services, and emergency response.
Advancing health
8 million
accessed health services and awareness in Bangladesh
350,000+
women received antenatal care in 2024
500,000
people screened for non-communicable diseases (NCDs) including diabetes and hypertension in 2024
On the ground with Asif Saleh: How can we tackle the world’s number one killer?
Impact at scale
In 2024, one in every four safe deliveries nationwide was supported by BRAC. 350,000 new mothers received antenatal care through 1.5 million visits. Over 8 million people accessed health services and awareness initiatives. More than 313,000 TB cases were identified with a treatment success rate of 95% and 1.1 million people were screened for malaria with 100% treatment coverage. We also screened 500,000 people for non-communicable diseases, provided 2.2 million reading glasses, and supported over 13,000 people to receive cataract surgery.
BRAC community health workers are supported by a broader network of health professionals, such as midwives, paramedics, and scientists, as well as an extensive system of health facilities, such as primary healthcare centers, maternity clinics in hard-to-reach areas, and tuberculosis diagnostic centers. We create scalable solutions and work with the government and private providers to scale them up to achieve national and global health targets.
Our approach focuses primarily on health promotion and prevention, but also works to create a culture of accessing healthcare support, and strengthens community capacity for long-term healthier lives.
Explore impact stories
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What does it take to fight the world’s number one killer?
Everything had been going fine until three weeks ago, when Ashamoni’s father died suddenly of a stroke, aged just 40. It was a painful shock. His death is part of a silent pandemic sweeping across the world–and we’re only seeing the tip of the iceberg in countries like Bangladesh, where it is estimated that half of these diseases are still undiagnosed.
A new initiative by the Government of Bangladesh, BRAC and Medtronic Labs–titled NCD360°–has managed to almost triple the control rates of hypertension, bringing them up from 31% to 72%, and double the control rates of diabetes, bringing them up from 23% to 47%. -
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Correcting the eyesight of 2 million people
One in five people in Bangladesh suffer from presbyopia, a condition which makes seeing things difficult up close–and can heavily impact livelihood opportunities. BRAC, in partnership with VisionSpring, and a cadre of community health workers, took to communities in Bangladesh in 2006 with a radical idea of ‘demedicalizing’ the treatment of presbyopia. Less than 20 years later, this has resulted in two million people in Bangladesh being able to see better.
BRAC, in partnership with VisionSpring, and a cadre of community health workers, took to communities in Bangladesh in 2006 with a radical idea of ‘demedicalizing’ the treatment of presbyopia. Less than 20 years later, two million people in Bangladesh are able to see better. -
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50 years of serving Bangladesh: Community health care to pandemic response
BRAC is currently the hub of the world’s largest non-government network of community health workers. Across Bangladesh, this network of 50,000 women is taking essential health care to the doorsteps of families and reaching the last mile, standing by 80 million people every year.
Over the past 50 years, BRAC has made significant contributions to Bangladesh’s achievements in the health care sector. The secret behind creating many successful interventions was learning from evidence and an active engagement from the community. -
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Artificial limbs change lives: Here’s how we can scale them up in low-income countries
Roksana Khatun lost her right leg when the building she was working in collapsed on top of her. The Rana Plaza building collapse in Bangladesh was the deadliest accidental structural failure in modern human history, killing almost 1200 people and injuring thousands more. Rokhsana didn’t think she’d ever walk, let alone work, again. Today, armed with a prosthetic leg, she is not only back in the workforce, but is earning more than what she made in Rana Plaza. Her story is emblematic of the work of the BRAC Limb and Brace Centre, which has equipped 42,000 people in Bangladesh with customized, affordable prosthetic limbs to date.
BRAC launched the BRAC Limb and Brace Center nearly 23 years ago, with the dual aim of providing international standard treatment and ensuring that it is affordable. However, its origins can be traced back to 1997, when a young doctor, a BRAC employee, lost his leg in a motorcycle accident. -
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What do we need to integrate mental health into mainstream health care?
Bangladesh has recently passed the National Mental Healthcare Act 2018, and is about to finalize the breakthrough National Mental Health Strategy. However, resources and investment remain low, with 0.49 mental health caregivers per 100,000 population. In this backdrop, how can mental health be destigmatized and be brought to the doorsteps of everyone?
BRAC has successfully implemented several models of mental health care for specific target groups, such as migrant workers, violence survivors, mothers and children from the Rohingya community who experienced trauma after fleeing persecution in their home country, Myanmar. Considering the shortage of skilled human resources, BRAC developed a group of para-counsellors who work under close supervision of psychologists. -
My country, Bangladesh, has seen a health revolution in my lifetime. Maternal mortality has decreased by 75 percent since 1980, infant mortality has more than halved since 1990. Such rapid changes have almost no historical precedent.”
Sir Fazle Hasan Abed
BRAC Founder
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