Eastern Bank, Thalassemia Foundation join hands for healthcare

Eastern Bank PLC (EBL) recently provided financial support to the Bangladesh Thalassemia Foundation (BTF) to strengthen healthcare services for underprivileged patients suffering from thalassaemia, as part of its corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiative.

Ziaul Karim, head of communications and external affairs at Eastern Bank PLC, handed over a cheque to Prof Syeda Masooma Rahman, vice-chairman of Bangladesh Thalassaemia Foundation, at the bank’s head office in Dhaka, according to a press release.

Prof Rahman said the partnership would help improve treatment facilities and offer renewed hope to affected children and their families.

Ziaul Karim noted that supporting life-saving healthcare infrastructure reflects EBL’s commitment to sustainable community development.

Under the partnership, EBL will support the modernisation of BTF’s medical facilities by funding advanced equipment such as refrigerated centrifuges, platelet incubators and agitators, plasma freezers and whole blood refrigerators. The initiative aims to enhance blood storage and transfusion services for thalassaemia patients.

Thalassaemia is one of the most common hereditary blood disorders in Bangladesh, with an estimated 6-12 percent of the population carrying the gene.

ABM Zunaed, head of human resources and operations at the foundation; CM Omar Faruq Niloy, manager of accounts and finance; and Momotaj Jahan Koli, assistant manager of donor relations and partnership development, attended the event.

Md Maskur Reza, head of business information systems at the bank; Md Safiqul Islam Zahid, head of financial operations and control; and Chowdhury Bahar Wadud, head of remittance, treasury, FIS and offshore banking, along with other senior officials from both organisations, were also present.