Pratima Durga

The proposed research will evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of informal healthcare providers' current practice in rural Bangladesh. It is grounded in the assumption that there is increasing risk in not professionalising unregulated medical practitioners. This project will scope the quality of medical services, assess the shortage of formally-trained practitioners and the problems faced by talent retention in rural communities. The research will result in an improved empirical base on the prevalence of community-based medical practices in remote regions and give insights that will be transferable to other remote settings, including remote and disadvantaged communities in Australia.

The findings from this research project will help delineate better healthcare models that reduce the disadvantage faced by vulnerable groups and increase efficiency. It is anticipated that it will improve the prediction, tracking and management of emerging local and regional health threats and challenge researchers to create innovative solutions for indigenous populations. This project will provide a mutual benefit to Australia and Bangladesh in identifying and implementing solutions, and it will result in improved healthcare provision models that will decrease the disparity between the standards of healthcare services available to urban and rural areas.