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Cited by 53Asian Geopolitics and EthnographyMigration, Health and TraumaMigration, Racism, and Human Rights

A Record Review on the Health Status of Rohingya Refugees in Bangladesh

Open access
Joarder, Taufique, Sutradhar, Ipsita, Hasan, Md Imran, Bulbul, Md. Mafizul I·2020·Cureus
DOI 10.7759/cureus.9753PMC PMC7489778
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Abstract

The Rohingya refugee crisis is neither new nor a sudden problem for Bangladesh. However, the recent violence in August 2017 instigated the migration of 6,93,000 additional Rohingyas into Bangladesh and as of June 2018, around one million Rohingya refugees were residing in Bangladesh. Against this backdrop, it is important to know their current health status because, without this information, equal and equitable health service provision is not possible. So, we conducted this review to understand the current health status of the Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh. For this purpose, a systematic literature search was conducted in July 2018 using transparent selection criteria and the keywords "Rohingya", "Health", Bangladesh". After screening the title and abstract and removing duplication, 12 articles and 21 organizational reports were found eligible for final review. Major health problems prevailing among Rohingya refugees are unexplained fever, acute respiratory infection, and diarrhea. Non-communicable diseases like hypertension, diabetes, and their risk factors are also highly prevalent among these people. More than half of the Rohingya refugees are women and many of them experience sexual abuse or exploitation. More than 50,000 Rohingya refugee women were pregnant, however, a significant portion of pregnant women did not have access to quality antenatal care. Mental health problems like post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and suicidal thoughts were also commonly prevailing in the Rohingya community.

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Crossref · 10.7759/cureus.9753

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  • Rohingya in Bangladesh have an exceptionally high stillbirth rate.

    “It has been shown that Rohingya in Bangladesh have an exceptionally high stillbirth rate [38]”

    From Predictors of antenatal care utilization among the Rohingya population in the refugee camps of Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh (2025) · cites this paper as [38]

    The Review’s Sexual and Reproductive Health section reports pregnancies, expected obstetrical complications, and limited antenatal care among Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh. Neither that section nor the passages returned for searches on stillbirths and adverse birth outcomes report a stillbirth rate or establish that it is exceptionally high. (LLM, conf=0.76)

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Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Research works printed but not linked: 26

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Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Joarder, T., Sutradhar, I., Hasan, M. I., & Bulbul, M. M. I.
Affiliations
BRAC (BD)
Corresponding author
Sutradhar, Ipsita
ORCID
Venue
Cureus
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published
2020-08-15
Volume
12
Issue
8
Pages
e9753-e9753
ISSN
2168-8184 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.7759/cureus.9753
PMC
PMC7489778
OpenAlex
W3049375500
Cited by
53
References
3
Citations by year
2026: 3 · 2025: 13 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 14 · 2022: 11 · 2021: 6
FWCI
7.84
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
cc-by
Locations
  • Cureus (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
UNICEF
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › Asian Geopolitics and Ethnography
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Migration, Health and Trauma
  • Social Sciences › Health › Migration, Racism, and Human Rights
Keywords
Rohingya refugees, refugee health, health status, fever of unknown origin, acute respiratory infections, diarrhea, non-communicable diseases, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, sexual abuse, pregnancy, prenatal care, mental health, post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, suicidal ideation, forced migration

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