Dhaka: Eastern Bank Ltd. (EBL) and International Centre for Diarrheal Disease Research, Bangladesh (ICDDR,B) have signed an agreement to collaborate on initiatives focused on medical waste management and addressing water scarcity in coastal regions of Bangladesh. Under this corporate social responsibility initiative, EBL will allocate BDT 9.2 million, as per the agreement signed at EBL’s head office in the city.
According to Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha, the agreement comes in the wake of a successful medical waste management project funded by EBL in early 2024. The bank will extend its support to the second phase of ICDDR,B’s initiative, ‘Best Practices in Sustainable Solid Bio-hazardous Waste Management’. This phase aims to enhance waste treatment capacity by introducing advanced sterilization technology and providing training to key healthcare facilities in Dhaka. The programme also seeks to align national medical waste management policies with sustainable practices for a more environment-friendly and resi
lient healthcare system.
EBL will also support the ICDDR,B project ‘Purified Water for Salinity-Prone Areas: Overcoming Water Scarcity Challenges in Coastal Bangladesh’. This project will establish a reverse osmosis (RO) water treatment plant in Shyamnagar, Satkhira district, one of the regions most affected by salinity. The plant aims to provide clean drinking water to 200 households. A notable aspect of the project is the measurement of blood pressure and urinary sodium levels of participants before and after consuming the purified water.
CEO of EBL Ali Reza Iftekhar, ICDDR,B executive director Dr. Tahmeed Ahmed, and other senior officials were present at the signing event.