For years, the communities of Mongolkata Bazar in Sunamganj have faced considerable barriers to accessing quality healthcare. Located in a remote haor region crisscrossed by rivers and canals, residents, including many indigenous families, often rely on boat transportation and long-distance travel to reach healthcare facilities. These geographical challenges have made timely medical care difficult, particularly during emergencies. The launch of ASTHA CARE marks a transformative step forward, providing a comprehensive one-stop healthcare service centre that will significantly improve access to quality healthcare and bring essential services closer to the people of the area.
Against this backdrop, the inauguration of ASTHA CARE in Mongolkata Bazar on 25 July 2026 marks a significant milestone for the region. By establishing a community-rooted healthcare centre, the initiative is expected to make healthcare more convenient, responsive, and accessible for local residents. It represents a renewed hope for families who have long faced hardships in obtaining timely medical care, marking the beginning of a new chapter in healthcare access for the region.
The inauguration ceremony was attended by Rezaul Karim, Senior Manager – Interventions Portfolio, ASTHA, Swisscontact Bangladesh, and Dr Saifun Nabi Evan, Head of External Affairs, Carnival Care Limited. Local representatives, community leaders, and residents also joined the celebration, welcoming the arrival of modern healthcare services to the area.
At the heart of the new facility is Jahangir Alam, a trained Community Paramedic who completed his training in 2016 and has since served local residents through a small pharmacy. Over the years, he witnessed firsthand the challenges people faced in accessing quality healthcare and envisioned a modern healthcare facility that could better meet their needs. With technical guidance and entrepreneurial support from Swisscontact, he was able to turn that vision into reality.
Like other ASTHA CARE centres, the Mongolkata facility is part of a planned network of around 100 community-based healthcare enterprises across rural Bangladesh by 2028. At scale, the network is projected to reach approximately 500,000 rural residents, reduce patient out-of-pocket healthcare expenditure by 40%, and establish 20–30 centres in climate-vulnerable regions, strengthening community resilience where healthcare access is most fragile.
ASTHA CARE provides a comprehensive package of services under one roof, including daily general practitioner consultations, rapid diagnostic testing, pharmacy services, digital specialist consultations, and electronic medical records that can be accessed from any ASTHA CARE centre nationwide. For communities where geography has long dictated healthcare access, these services offer a practical and sustainable solution that brings quality care closer to remote community. Swisscontact and Carnival Care are actively engaging prospective entrepreneurs across Bangladesh to replicate this model, with expansion prioritising underserved and climate-vulnerable areas.