The Department of Public Health and Informatics of Bangladesh Medical University signed Memoranda of Understanding with the Hope Foundation for Women and Children of Bangladesh and Alo Bhubon Trust in the presence of the vice-chancellor, Professor F M Siddique, said a press release on Wednesday.
The agreements were signed by Professor Md Atiqul Haque, chairman, Department of Public Health & Informatics, BMU; Iftikher Mahmood, founder and president of Hope Foundation, and Professor Golam Abu Zakaria, founding chairman of Alo Bhubon Trust.
The ceremony was attended by senior university officials, including pro-vice-chancellors Professor Md Abul Kalam Azad (Administration), Professor Md Mujibur Rahman Hawlader (Research & Development), and Professor Md Nazrul Islam (Academic); Registrar Md Mustafa Kamal; Aftab Uddin, country director of Hope Foundation; and faculty members of DPHI-BMU.
The MoU with Hope Foundation will advance collaboration in maternal, newborn and child health, sexual and reproductive health, and humanitarian response, particularly for underserved populations in hard-to-reach areas, including Cox’s Bazar and Rohingya settings, through field-based training, joint research, community outreach, and evidence generation.
The MoU with Alo Bhubon Trust focuses on addressing non-communicable diseases through joint research, awareness, capacity building, and multi-sectoral collaboration to strengthen prevention and community-level health promotion.
In his remarks, the vice-chancellor emphasised strengthening fistula research through collaboration with the Hope Foundation and advancing medical physics and interdisciplinary research at BMU, particularly in cancer care, in alignment with the Alo Bhubon Trust.
He further advised expanding such collaborations beyond the department to the university level for greater impact and sustainability and encouraged implementation of the MoU objectives through education and training, joint research, community services, digital health innovation, capacity building, and policy translation.
Professor Md Atiqul Haque noted that the MoUs will bridge academic excellence with field-level implementation, creating meaningful opportunities for research, training, and service delivery.
Iftikher Mahmood highlighted that Hope Foundation’s field experience will support impactful collaboration to improve health outcomes for vulnerable populations. Prof. Golam Abu Zakaria expressed that the partnership will strengthen efforts in non-communicable disease prevention through research, awareness, and capacity building.
The MoU signing and subsequent engagements were led and coordinated by Farzana Islam, Department of Public Health and Informatics, BMU, who emphasised that this collaboration bridges academic excellence with field impact, fostering meaningful opportunities for research, learning, and improved community health outcomes.
She also mentioned that these partnerships reflect a shared commitment to advancing evidence-based public health practice, strengthening health systems, and improving the wellbeing of vulnerable populations across Bangladesh.
Following the ceremony, both organisations visited DPHI-BMU, held discussions with faculty to identify priority collaboration areas, and participated in an interactive session with the students of MPH Batch-14 for knowledge exchange and experience sharing.
