Skip to content

UK High Commissioner visits Lifebuoy Friendship Hospital

Published:

UK High Commissioner Robert Chatterton Dickson visited the Lifebuoy Friendship Hospital in Dhaka to see the hospital's work in treating patients.

Robert Chatterton Dickson, Zaved Akhtar, CEO of UBL a

Unilever Bangladesh Limited (UBL) has made a significant impact on the healthcare sector of Bangladesh by partnering with the NGO Friendship to bring healthcare services to remote char areas of the country. We have been committed to improving people's health, confidence, and wellbeing through our purpose-driven brands, including Lifebuoy, which has been working to advance the nation's healthcare system and citizens' health and cleanliness.

In collaboration with Friendship, UBL constructed a residential hospital boat, the Lifebuoy Friendship Hospital (LFH), equipped with primary and secondary healthcare facilities, two operation theatres, a pathological laboratory, and a digitalised X-ray room. The LFH team consists of doctors, nurses, and other medical staff who offer a wide range of services including gynaecology, dentistry, ophthalmology, paediatrics, and general medicine. The LFH has provided healthcare services to over 1.5 million people living in the chars, delivering 1,066,671 healthcare services to 657,182 patients in the last 20 years.

Recently, His Excellency Mr, Robert Chatterton Dickson, British High Commissioner to Bangladesh, visited the LFH in a remote char at Sariakandi in Bogura. Zaved Akhtar, CEO and Managing Director, UBL, accompanied him on the visit, along with Runa Khan, Executive Director of Friendship, and other dignitaries. The visit showcased the LFH operation and programme interventions in the remote chars of Bangladesh, and the delegation learned about the journey of this iconic initiative, interacted with the team who has been carrying out the benevolent work in the last two decades and heard about the first-hand experience of the patients and beneficiaries.

In addition to providing treatment, LFH also dispenses free medicine to patients and organises specialised health camps conducted by national and international medical teams for the marginalised riverine communities where 16,385 successful life-changing surgeries were done. The LFH has become a symbol of hope for enabling healthcare across underserved communities in Bangladesh.

The partnership between Unilever Bangladesh Limited and Friendship has been a great example of how a private company and an NGO can collaborate to bring positive change in society. We hope to inspire change through our commitment to making healthcare accessible and affordable for those who need it the most.

Back to top