BRAC, the world's largest non-governmental organization, is recognized internationally for its pioneering efforts to promote health, alleviate poverty, and educate and empower the poor.
BRAC (formerly known as the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee) was founded in 1972 by Fazle Hasan Abed to provide relief and assistance to refugees returning from India after Bangladesh's Liberation War. Today, BRAC focuses on improving the welfare of poor people throughout Bangladesh. BRAC employs more than 26,000 regular staff and 34,000 part-time teachers who work in 60,627 villages in all 64 districts of the country.
BRAC'S Achievements in Health
Major accomplishments of BRAC's health program include:
- Introduced oral rehydration therapy throughout Bangladesh to prevent child deaths from diarrhea
- Worked with the national government to increase childhood immunization rates from less that 2 percent in 1986 to 62 percent just five years later
- Created a national program to identify and treat active tuberculosis cases, with a 9 percent cure rate
- Currently establishing a school of public health in Bangladesh
More than 30 million people – almost a quarter of Bangladesh's population – are served by BRAC’s health programs. BRAC provides health care at 90 health clinics and 2,200 prenatal clinics, and has mobilized 52,000 volunteers who visit millions of homes throughout Bangladesh to provide health care assistance. Health services provided by BRAC include health and nutrition education, HIV/AIDS education, maternal and child health programs, family planning, nutrition programs, and TB and malaria treatment. A central feature of BRAC’s health programs is the Shastho Shebika – the community health volunteer – who is chosen by the community, provided with training in essential health care, and is responsible for making health services and commodities easily accessible to all community members.
In addition to its health-focused programs, many of BRAC's other development activities make important contributions to improved health, including micro-credit for women to support small businesses, support for women's empowerment, efforts to increase food production, sanitation projects, and basic primary education in rural schools.
Fazle Hasan Abed
Fazle Hasan Abed, a former Shell Oil executive, is founder and chairman of BRAC. In 1972, following Bangladesh's Liberation War, he established BRAC to rehabilitate war refugees in a remote area of northeastern Bangladesh. He soon led the organization’s expansion to provide a broad range of services for the poor throughout the country. Abed has received numerous international awards, including the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Community Leadership, the UNESCO Noma Prize for Literacy, the Alan Shawn Feinstein World Hunger Award, UNICEF's Maurice Pate Award, and the Gleitsman Foundation International Activist Award.