Critical Care Medicine: Bangladesh Perspective

Abstract

Bangladesh became an independent and sovereign country in 1971 following a nine-month blood shedding liberation war. Bangladesh has a population of about 152.25 million, making it one of the most populous countries in the world. Intensive care is an emerging but less emphasized concept in Bangladesh. The first intensive care unit (ICU) in Bangladesh was established in the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (NICVD) in 1980. Since then many ICUs have been established. In Bangladesh there is no governing body like Bangladesh Medical and Dental Council (BMDC) that can set the standard of such units. There are no reliable statistics regarding the number of both governmental and private ICUs, bed capacities, no. of patients getting admitted per month, services offered, equipment, qualification of health professionals, cost/benefits and mortality rates of these ICUs.