Ministry of Health and Family Welfare Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh

Bangladesh is a low-lying country with a total area of 55,598 square miles or 1,43,999, square kilometres. It stretches latitudinally between 20º34' and 26º38' north and longitudinally between 88º01' and 92º41' east. It is mostly surrounded by Indian territory (West Bengal, Tripura, Assam and Meghalaya), except for a small strip in the southeast by Myanmar. Bay of Bengal lies on the south. The population of Bangladesh is about 133.4 millions. Majority of the population are Muslims; Hindus, Buddhists and Christians make up 13 percent of the entire population. Over 98 percent of the people speak Bengali; English however, is widely used. The entire country is broadly divided into six administrative divisions, namely, Dhaka, Chittagong, Rajshahi, Khulna, Barisal and Sylhet. This country governed by the Parliamentary democracy and it has a unitary parliament, named Bangladesh Jatia Sangsad. There are 40 Ministries and 12 Divisions. Only few ministries are large, the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare is one of them. At the national level, the ministry of Health & Family Welfare (MOH&FW) is responsible for policy, planning and decision making at macro level. Under MOH&FW, there are four Directorates e.g. Director General of Health Services, Director General of Family Planning, Directorate of Nursing Services and Directorate of Drug Administration.