When Lubna Yeasmin began her research into medical negligence in Bangladesh in 2016, she was driven by a single, urgent question: who protects the patient? A decade later, that question has found its way into a full-length, research-based book — and sparked a conversation that Bangladesh’s healthcare system can no longer afford to delay.

“If this book can make even the smallest contribution to that essential conversation, my years of research, dedication, and hard work will be truly meaningful.”

Why This Book Matters Now

Bangladesh’s healthcare system has grown enormously over the past three decades. Life expectancy has risen, maternal mortality has fallen, and a network of public and private hospitals now reaches far beyond Dhaka. Yet a glaring gap persists: when something goes wrong — when negligence, error, or misconduct harms a patient — there is no clear, enforceable legal path to justice.

Medical Negligence in Bangladesh – A Research-Based Analytical Review is Lubna Yeasmin’s systematic attempt to map that gap: its legal dimensions, its human cost, and the legislative tools Bangladesh already has — but has yet to fully use — to close it.

At a Glance — What the Book Addresses

• Accountability structures (and their absence) in Bangladesh’s healthcare system
• Patient safety standards and how they are — or are not — enforced
• The scope and limitations of the Health Service Protection Act 2017
• A framework for a humane, justice-based healthcare environment
• Evidence-based policy recommendations grounded in ten years of field and legal research

The Health Service Protection Act 2017: Potential Waiting to Be Fulfilled

Bangladesh enacted the Health Service Protection Act in 2017 — a landmark piece of legislation that, on paper, recognises the rights of patients and creates obligations for healthcare providers. In practice, its implementation has been slow and inconsistent. This book was written, in part, to contribute to a timely, effective operationalisation of that Act.

Yeasmin argues that legislation alone is not enough. What Bangladesh needs is a culture of accountability — one where healthcare providers are supported to do their best work and held responsible when professional standards are not met. These two aims are not in conflict; they are the foundation of any trustworthy health system.

A Decade in the Making: 2016 to 2026

A Journey in Photographs: 2016 – 2026

Over ten years of research, Lubna Yeasmin met and consulted with some of Bangladesh’s most distinguished legal minds, medical experts, and public health professionals. These photographs document that remarkable journey — from exclusive interviews and Law Commission consultations to hospital fieldwork and the book’s launch.

From the Table Show: A Response That Inspires

The three-day table show organised around the book’s launch was more than a distribution event — it became a small symposium on healthcare accountability. Readers did not merely collect copies; they returned with questions, analyses, and their own experiences of navigating Bangladesh’s healthcare system as patients, professionals, or caregivers.

“Your thoughtful opinions, analytical evaluations, and sincere interest continue to inspire me to be more responsible and to keep working on this important issue.”

What Medical Negligence in Bangladesh Really Means

Medical negligence is not simply a legal category. It is a human experience — often devastating, frequently invisible, and almost always entangled with power imbalances between patient and provider. In Bangladesh, the challenge is compounded by overcrowded public hospitals, under-resourced rural health facilities, an insufficiently regulated private sector, and limited health literacy among patients who may not know what standards of care they are entitled to.

This book refuses to reduce the issue to either villain-and-victim narratives or dry legal commentary. Instead, it holds both dimensions together: the systemic failures that make negligence more likely, and the individual accountability that justice demands.

Why Patient Safety Is a Public Health Issue

At Appropriate Initiative, we understand health not merely as the absence of disease, but as a system — social, legal, nutritional, and institutional — that either supports or undermines human flourishing. Medical negligence sits squarely within that system. When patients cannot trust their healthcare providers, they delay seeking care. When there is no accountability, preventable harms recur. When the law is unclear or unenforced, the most vulnerable bear the greatest burden.

This is why research like Lubna Yeasmin’s matters — not just as legal scholarship, but as public health advocacy.

Engage with This Work

Have thoughts on medical negligence, patient safety, or healthcare law in Bangladesh? Join the conversation at Appropriate Initiative — through our blog, events, and webinars.

Gratitude and the Road Ahead

Lubna Yeasmin closes her reflections with gratitude — to every reader who engaged, every professional who shared expertise, and every person who offered feedback grounded in real experience. The photographs and memories gathered here — from 2016 to 2026 — are not just a record of a book being written. They are evidence of a community that cares about justice in healthcare.

The work is not finished. A book can spark a conversation; changing a healthcare system requires sustained effort from researchers, lawmakers, medical professionals, civil society, and the public. What this book offers is a rigorous, evidence-based foundation for that change — and an invitation to everyone with a stake in Bangladesh’s health future to build on it.

Lubna Yeasmin

Founder of Appropriate Initiative. Researcher, legal advocate, and public health educator with a decade of work on medical negligence, patient rights, and healthcare law reform in Bangladesh. Author of Medical Negligence in Bangladesh – A Research-Based Analytical Review.