A lifeline for cancer patients in Dhaka: Free stay, food, care and ambulance services

At the age of two and a half, Shraddha Biswas was diagnosed with blood cancer. She is now five years old. Her parents, Rupa Rani and Bandhan Biswas, from Jashore, have been fighting a long and difficult battle to ensure treatment for their only child. It took considerable time to diagnose the disease, and the expenses were enormous. They came to Dhaka and began treatment at the National Institute of Cancer Research and Hospital in Mohakhali. They rented a house near the hospital at Tk 200 per day, in addition to the cost of food.

One day, Rupa Rani noticed an address on a piece of paper posted on a hospital wall. The address was ‘Mosabbir Memorial Alok Nibash’ in the Bashundhara Residential Area. 

Now, for the past two years, the parents have been staying at Alok Nibash whenever they come to Dhaka with their daughter for treatment. They do not have to pay anything for accommodation or meals. Nurses at the residence also monitor whether the child is taking her medication properly. The family receives counselling services as well. An ambulance service is available to transport patients between the residence and the National Cancer Institute. All these services are provided free of charge.

On the afternoon of 8 November, I spoke with Rupa Rani at the six-storey Alok Nibash. Shraddha was in a bit of a bad mood. She refused to leave her mother's lap and did not want to talk. Her mother had done her hair up with several clips.

Rupa Rani said that Shraddha's father works as a security guard at a private company, and the family lives in Jashore. There are hardly any facilities for treating childhood blood cancer there. A local doctor had initially told them that their daughter had thalassemia. However, after coming to Dhaka, they learned that she had cancer.

She said the cost of treatment was very high. Had they not found out about this residence, it would have been impossible for them to afford their daughter's treatment in Dhaka, along with accommodation and food expenses.

Even when her husband cannot come to Dhaka regularly, it does not create any difficulties. The residence takes care of all the necessary arrangements.

Rebekah Akhter, the residence’s patient coordinator, has been serving in this role since the beginning, in 2022. She said, “We have watched Shraddha grow up right before our eyes. However, many people who stayed here and received treatment at various hospitals have also passed away. It is heartbreaking whenever we think about them.”

The residence is an initiative of the Bangladesh Cancer Aid Trust (BANCAT). Across its two facilities in the Bashundhara Residential Area, including another two-storey residence, a total of 85 cancer patients and their caregivers are receiving these services.

After finishing the conversation, Rupa sat her daughter beside her and began sewing a quilt.

Through a project called Alok Kantha, patients undergoing treatment and their family members receive training to make quilts, embroidered quilts (nakshi kantha), prayer mats, diary covers and other items during their free time. These products are sold at the Unimart supermarket chain.

The women who make these items receive a share of the earnings. They also have the opportunity to use the skills they acquire to earn a living and rebuild their lives after returning home.

The daily routine at the residence begins as early as 6 am Patients are taken by ambulance to the National Institute of Cancer Research and Hospital, Bangladesh Medical University, and Dhaka Medical College Hospital. Upon returning, they wash their hands and faces at the entrance, take the lift and head to their respective rooms.

The residence has separate floors for women, men and children. After entering their rooms and taking a bath, residents can head straight to the dining area, where staff members on duty serve them meals.

Lunch on 8 November consisted of pumpkin, chicken and lentils. In the afternoon, children were served milk and bananas in bowls.

A nutritionist visits twice a week to prepare meal plans and assess the overall quality of the food. Three meals a day are prepared for a total of 600 people across the two residences.

Abu Shahnaz Sanit works as an office staff member at Mosabbir Memorial Alok Nibash. He is from Cox’s Bazar and currently lives at the residence while studying in the first year of the Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) programme under the Bangladesh Open University.

A year and a half ago, his elder brother stayed at the residence while receiving cancer treatment. After his brother died at the age of 29, Abu Shahnaz began working there.

Nazmus Ahmed Albab, a garment factory owner and businessman, serves as the founder and executive director of BANCAT. Speaking to Prothom Alo, he said he was diagnosed with blood cancer in 2011, at the age of 45. He began treatment in Singapore within a week of his diagnosis and recovered within a year, returning to Bangladesh. However, his experience with cancer transformed him profoundly. He began wondering how people from poor backgrounds could afford cancer treatment.

He started visiting government hospitals and eventually wound up his business. He began raising funds and collecting donations for cancer patients. Initially, financial assistance was provided to cancer patients through the Bangladesh Cancer Aid Foundation.

In 2019, BANCAT was established, growing out of the foundation. People with family members affected by cancer, as well as others who shared the same vision, came together to support the initiative.

The organisation set out to build a compassionate support system to ensure dignity, empathy and essential assistance for cancer patients at every stage of their struggle. Since its establishment, BANCAT has directly and indirectly supported more than 2,500 people affected by cancer and their families.

More than 500 donors and partners—including individuals, organisations, and Bangladeshis living both in the country and abroad—have joined this humanitarian initiative. BANCAT currently has 15 trustees. Rokeya Afzal Rahman, an adviser to the former caretaker government, was its founding president.

Nazmus Ahmed said that after returning to Bangladesh and visiting government hospitals, he realised that although cancer patients were receiving medical treatment, they were not getting the care and support they needed. He began thinking about how such support could be provided. This idea led to the launch of Alok Nibash in 2022, initially operating from a rented house in the Bashundhara Residential Area.

Colonel (Retd.) Modasser Hossain Khan, who was awarded the Bir Protik gallantry title for his role in the Liberation War, serves as BANCAT’s chief adviser.

Speaking to Prothom Alo, he said his son, Mosabbir Hossain Khan, died of brain cancer in 2002, at the age of just 17. His son received treatment in the United States.

In 2004, the Mosabbir Cancer Care Centre was established in Dhanmondi in his son's memory. After Alok Nibash began its operations, he got in touch with Nazmus Ahmed Albab.

Modasser Hossain Khan said, “I was also diagnosed with cancer. I am doing well now, although I am getting older. I asked Albab to bring Alok Nibash and my organisation together. The two organisations were merged under the name Mosabbir Alok Nibash.”

On 8 November, I spoke with several other residents at Mosabbir Alok Nibash.

Seventeen-year-old Abdul Hasib had to have his right leg amputated from the thigh. He now walks with the help of crutches. His father, Md. Milon, a daily wage labourer, travels with his son from Hatiya in Noakhali to Dhaka every 21 days for chemotherapy.

Previously, they used to stay in a rented house near the hospital in Mohakhali. To pay for his son's treatment, Milon had even mortgaged the small plot of land he owned.

Md. Jobel Mia, from Kulaura in Moulvibazar, works as a mason. His daughter, Takia Akter, is only two and a half years old. She was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer when she was 19 months old. She has completed 21 of the 31 chemotherapy sessions required at the National Institute of Cancer Research and Hospital.

About a month ago, Jobel Mia moved to the residence with his wife, Salma Begum, their daughter and their five-and-a-half-year-old son, Adil Hossain.

Many other residents also spoke about the relief the facility has brought them. As afternoon set in, the children at the residence began drawing, playing various games or enjoying the swings.

Their parents said the children were getting nutritious meals and opportunities to play with other children. They said it would have been impossible to find such an environment anywhere else.

Mahjabin Ferdous, a trustee and general secretary of BANCAT, has lost six members of her family to cancer, including her paternal and maternal grandparents, parents, paternal aunt and maternal aunt.

She said, “We are now dreaming of establishing a cancer care village called ‘Alok Bosoti’. Construction work has begun. Through our initiative, ‘One brick for Tk 1,000’, anyone can contribute to this project. The village will provide all services in one place through an integrated system. Work on the project has begun on five bighas of land in Singair, Manikganj.”

Nazmus Ahmed said he gave up his garment business after beginning his work with cancer patients and started collecting donations from people. As a result, members of his family began to think he had lost his mind.

In 2024, he was diagnosed with kidney cancer again and had to have one of his kidneys removed. However, he did not give up.

More than 200 people now make regular donations to support his initiative. Some send rice, others contribute lentils, while some sponsor individual beds. In this way, contributions from people make it possible to stand beside those affected by cancer and support them through their difficult journey.