BURO Health Care Foundation has started the first ‘Neonatal Intensive Care Unit’ (NICU) services in private level at Tangail for premature babies.

An equipped Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) started operations on September 1, 2021. In the last 3 months since its inception, NICU has provided services to 136 children, of whom 118 have recovered and returned home safely. In addition, 7 have been referred to Dhaka Children's Hospital and 13 have died. 

No other private hospital or clinic at Tangail has the services of Neonatal Intensive Care Unit sevices. BURO Health Care Foundation reduces premature infant mortality rate. By statistics, it is impossible to save 70% babies born early by the government or semi- government hospital, but it is possible to reduce the infant mortality rate in NICU by BURO Health Care Foundation. 

BURO Health Care Foundation has already reduced the infant mortality rate about 87% over last three months. It is possible to save 90% of the children in the NICU of the world's advanced hospital. 

Visiting the hospital BURO Health Care Foundation at hospital located at Registry Para, it is observed that NICU provides the best services with the same standard of care following the developed world. 

The BURO Health Care Foundation has opened this door to special services to preterm early born babies having less weight at very low cost. In other hospitals in the country where the medical expenses of a child admitted to a normal NICU are highly expensive. But the BURO Health Care Foundation is providing low-cost medical care at the hospital. 

The medical services are not stopped even if the guardians of the child fails to bear the cost of treatment for any reason. The foundation cares saving the life of the child than others. The motto of the foundation is to cure the patient. 

Dr. Saiful Islam of the NICU department of the foundation said that, Robert Browning, the English poet of nineteenth century has rightly said, “Motherhood: All love begins and ends there”. But motherhood is not always happy, sometimes it becomes the cause of extreme suffering. In every 11 seconds, a newborn baby dies in the world. With the exception of a few developed countries, the neonatal mortality rate in the rest of the world is still alarming. 

Studies show that one-third of all infant deaths occur within 28 days of birth. Even 33% of neonatal deaths occur within 7 days of birth. In September 2000, the Millennium Summit was held in New York, the headquarters of 191 states and 22 international organizations, with the aim of achieving six major goals, including reducing child mortality. Later, 8 main targets were named Millennium Development Goals (MDG). 

This goals were to achieve by 2015 and after 2015, 17 new targets have been set to achieve the target. In the meantime, as a state, Bangladesh is able to reduce the infant mortality rate, but the neonatal mortality rate is not so satisfactory. Analysis of the number of newborn deaths in 2014 shows that the number of newborn deaths has increased from 28 per thousand live births in 2014 to 30 per thousand live births in 2018. He said a well-equipped Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) set up by BURO Health Care Foundation at Tangail closely works besides the government initiatives as a non-government organization. 

Dr. Fakhrul Amin Badal of the NICU Department of the foundation said that since 2001, various international organizations, especially WHO, UNICEF, JAICA, KOICA, USAID, have been successfully coordinating projects with the Govt to achieve the targets set up in SDG following MDG. 

Based on the terms and conditions of Health Nutrition and Population Sector Programme(HNPSP) strategy and National Neonatal Health Strategy and guidelines 2009-2016 , 42 Special Care Neonatal Unit(SCANU) has been set up in various districts and the Medical College Hospital. 

Although we have a long way to go in reducing the infant and child mortality rate by conducting services through trained manpower at village level, community intervention, improving the quality of service of pregnant mothers in hospitals, etc. to reduce the complications caused by neonatal birth. 

Despite taking appropriate steps by government hospitals and healthcare institutions, we are lagging behind in providing critical care to children. He further added that NISU services are required for all the babies born prematurely. 

Babies are born before 36 weeks or underweight need to be admitted to the NICU department. Highlighting the NICU services, he further said that the services that are unable to provide to the child in the womb, NICU provides that. There are two types of closed or open incubators. It has been found that pre-mature or underweight babies are born in Bangladesh, out of which about 3% out of 30% are born prematurely.