Bangladesh's Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and an Indian pharmaceutical firm, Sandor Medicaid, are set to sign in November the first public - private partnership (PPP) project in the country to develop two Hemodialysis Centres.

Oneof the hemodialysis centres will be located at Chittagong Medical College Hospital. The project involves the establishment of a 40 station Dialysis Centre that will be provided within the existing or adjacent facilities. It is expected that the private operator will procure, install, upgrade, maintain and operate the facilities and the equipments.

Chittagong Medical College Hospital is the only tertiary medical college hospital in southern part of Bangladesh. It is the only government run hemodialysis unit in Chittagong with provision of only 9 haemodialysis beds. However these facilities are not adequate to meet significant demand for provision of dialysis to patients suffering from kidney diseases.

The other hemodialysis centre will be located at National Institute of Kidney Diseases and Urology (NIKDU). The project involves the establishment of a 70 station Dialysis Centre within a space of approximately 5000 sq feet that will be provided within the existing institute. It is expected that the private operator will procure, install, upgrade, maintain and operate the facilities and the equipments.

NIKDU is the only Institute for Nephrology & Urology in Bangladesh and provides education, research & treatment facilities for nephrology & urological diseases. It was set up in April 2001 in response to this acute need for the establishment of an institution to treat patients with kidney diseases.

The project will be developed on a design, build, finance and operation (DBFO) basis.

The request for proposals (RFP) was issued on 3 February 2014. The international finance corporation (IFC) has been acting as transaction advisor for the project.

This first PPP project aims to  increase public access to dialysis and improve the quality of dialysis services on an affordable basis by upgrading and refreshing the facilities and treatment offered for dialysis therapy. Bangladesh has nearly 20 million people suffering from various kidney and urological problems.