Dr Zubaida seeks more support for maternal and child health and medical infrastructure at Sasakawa Foundation seminar in Tokyo
Photo: Collected
Tokyo, 27 October 2026 (BSS): Dr Zubaida Rahman, wife of the Prime Minister, has urged the Sasakawa Peace Foundation to further expand its cooperation with Bangladesh in healthcare, health research, maternal and child health, and modern medical infrastructure.
She made the call while speaking at a health seminar organised by the Sasakawa Peace Foundation in the Japanese capital Tokyo this afternoon, local time.
Dr Zubaida Rahman said healthcare, education and social protection sit at the top of the current Bangladesh government’s priorities. The government has taken a range of steps to ensure affordable healthcare for all, improve the quality of public health services, recruit new health workers and widen access to health and education for marginalised communities.
In her words, the government is working to improve people’s living standards through initiatives such as employment-oriented education, wider learning opportunities for underprivileged students, family-based social assistance and the introduction of a ‘Family Card’.
Noting that healthcare is an area of both professional and personal interest to her, Dr Zubaida Rahman said ensuring people’s physical and mental well-being is crucial. Bangladesh-Japan bilateral relations are steadily moving forward, and there is scope to tackle new challenges in the health and social sectors by drawing on the experience, knowledge and capacity of both countries.
She stressed the need for children to grow up in a healthy environment. In her view, both Bangladesh and Japan are committed to ensuring children’s proper development. This requires sustainable social systems, a strong economy, quality education and protection of people from violence and poverty.
Dr Zubaida Rahman also raised the importance of health diplomacy in an increasingly interconnected world. She said health diplomacy can play a major role in ensuring ‘health for all’.
She said that, alongside government initiatives, the contributions of various non-governmental organisations, international institutions, voluntary organisations and charitable foundations have been very important in improving maternal and child health in Bangladesh.
Drawing on her own professional experience as a physician in the country, Zubaida Rahman said Bangladesh has enormous potential in implementing sound health policies, advancing health research and building modern medical facilities.
Dr Zubaida Rahman praised the Sasakawa Peace Foundation’s tireless work in protecting the health of children and vulnerable groups, and called on the organisation to expand its activities in Bangladesh. She also asked the foundation to come forward with more funding and all-round cooperation to help meet the challenges facing the health sector.
She said the Bangladesh government stands ready to extend full cooperation and support to any initiative aimed at protecting people’s health and ensuring sustainable healthcare in the long term.
Yohei Sasakawa, honorary chairman of the Nippon Foundation and the Sasakawa Peace Foundation, and other dignitaries from both countries attended the seminar.
Background
Prime Minister Tarique Rahman is on an official visit to Japan from 26 to 29 October at the invitation of Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi; it is his fourth foreign trip since taking office in February, bdnews24.com reported on 22 October.
The agenda of the visit includes implementation of the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) signed on 6 February, trade and investment, infrastructure financing and a sustainable solution to the Rohingya crisis, according to a pre-visit BSS report published by Risingbd on 23 October.
By the numbers
According to a December 2019 report by IPS News, Bangladesh was then detecting around 4,000 new leprosy cases every year and ranked fourth in the world in leprosy burden.
At a glance
Yohei Sasakawa is chairman of the Nippon Foundation and the Sasakawa Health Foundation and the World Health Organization’s Goodwill Ambassador for Leprosy Elimination; on 11 December 2019 the two organisations jointly held a ‘Zero Leprosy’ conference in Dhaka with the National Leprosy Programme, according to the IPS News report.
According to a report in The Financial Express on 8 September, Sasakawa told Leader of the Opposition Dr Shafiqur Rahman at a meeting in Dhaka about running vocational training and livelihood programmes in the Rohingya camps.
Sources
Original report: BSS
Background sources: bdnews24.com, 22 October 2026; Risingbd (separate BSS report), 23 October 2026; IPS News, December 2019; The Financial Express, 8 September 2026
