Before you start

International health insurance with medical evacuation, arranged before arrival
Clarity on how your policy handles a referral from a non-capital city
Vaccination records, including typhoid and hepatitis A discussion with a doctor
A household water plan, and a known cyclone shelter

Step-by-step

1
Arrange insurance with evacuation cover, and ask how a Khulna referral works
Expatriate policies underwrite at purchase. Beyond the evacuation limit and whether a companion is covered, ask the specific question a Dhaka resident never has to: how does the policy handle a transfer from a divisional city to Dhaka before an international evacuation, and who authorises it at two in the morning. That gap is where non-capital postings get caught.
OnlineWho: YouBefore arrival
2
Register with a private hospital and identify your Dhaka referral route in advance
Khulna's private hospitals and the medical college handle routine and much urgent care. For complex surgery, oncology and specialist paediatrics the honest answer is Dhaka and then abroad. Establish, before you need it, which Khulna facility you use and which Dhaka hospital it refers into.
In personWho: YouMonth 1
3
Take drinking-water salinity seriously, at home and when travelling
The city's piped supply is treated surface water pumped from the Modhumoti precisely because local groundwater and rivers are saline, and even that source turns brackish in April and May. In the coastal upazilas the problem is far worse and is a documented public health issue. Use filtered or bottled water, ask what your building's source actually is, and be careful about local water on field trips.
In personWho: YouWeek 1
4
Prepare for cyclone season properly, once, in advance
Cyclone Remal made landfall near Mongla on 26 May 2024 with a storm surge well above normal levels, affecting around 400,000 people in Khulna district and damaging some 50,000 homes. Learn the Bangladesh Meteorological Department signal numbers, find your nearest shelter, keep several days of water, medication, power and cash, and know your employer's protocol. Do this in March, not in May.
In personWho: YouBefore the pre-monsoon season
5
Plan for the dry-season air, which is worse than you expect
On the morning of 6 November 2025 Khulna measured an air quality index of 229, above Dhaka's 177. The assumption that a small coastal city breathes easily does not hold in the dry months. Buy purifiers for the bedrooms before December, and treat outdoor exercise in the worst weeks as a decision.
OnlineWho: YouBy November
6
Take mosquito and food precautions from day one
Discuss typhoid and hepatitis A vaccination with a doctor before arrival. Dengue is a household concern rather than a traveller's — the Aedes mosquito bites in daylight, so daytime repellent and removing standing water on balconies and in plant trays is ordinary housekeeping.
In personWho: You

Documents you’ll need

Insurance policy and card with evacuation and domestic-transfer cover confirmed
Passport and visa
Vaccination records
Generic-name prescription list for ongoing medication
Employer group scheme and emergency protocol details

Things most newcomers don’t know

Khulna's air can be worse than Dhaka's, and almost nobody arrives expecting that.

On the morning of 6 November 2025, Khulna recorded an air quality index of 229 — 'very unhealthy' — against Dhaka's 177, Rajshahi's 167 and Chattogram's 99. Bangladesh was the second most polluted country in the world in 2025 at a national annual PM2.5 average of 66.1 µg/m³, and that burden is not confined to the capital. People take a posting in a smaller delta city partly to escape Dhaka's air and then do not buy purifiers, which is exactly the wrong way round.

Source: Prothom Alo, 6 November 2025 air quality readings; IQAir 2025 World Air Quality Report

The city's own water engineering is the clearest statement of the salinity problem.

Rather than treat local groundwater, the Khulna Water Supply Project — financed by the ADB and JICA and completed in 2019 — built an intake on the Modhumoti river tens of kilometres from the city and a treatment plant of around 110,000 cubic metres a day, then piped the water in. Governments do not spend that to solve a mild problem. Salinity in drinking water across coastal Khulna is a documented health issue, and even the Modhumoti turns brackish in April and May. Ask what your building's source is; the answer is not automatically the mains.

Source: Asian Development Bank; Khulna Water Supply Project

For anything serious the pathway is Khulna, then Dhaka, then abroad — and the middle step is the one policies forget.

Khulna's private hospital tier handles routine and much urgent care well, but the depth for complex surgery, oncology and specialist paediatrics is not here. That makes the realistic sequence a local stabilisation, a transfer to Dhaka, and then the international evacuation your policy is written around. Most expatriate policies describe evacuation from the country and say much less about the domestic leg. Ask your insurer that specific question before you need the answer.

Source: community-reported

Cyclone preparation is a normal household duty in this division, not a precaution.

Khulna division takes direct landfalls. Remal came ashore near Mongla on 26 May 2024, affecting around 400,000 people in Khulna district, damaging about 50,000 homes and breaching around 61 kilometres of embankment across Khulna, Satkhira and Bagerhat, with the Sundarbans flooded for roughly thirty hours. Locals prepare the way people elsewhere prepare for winter. Learn the signal numbers and locate your shelter in your first month.

Source: Cyclone Remal situation reporting; Bangladesh Meteorological Department

Common mistakes to avoid

Buying insurance that covers international evacuation but is vague about the Khulna-to-Dhaka leg.
Assuming a smaller coastal city has cleaner dry-season air than Dhaka.
Not asking what a building's actual water source is before signing.
Learning the cyclone signal system after the first warning rather than before.
Treating dengue as a traveller's risk rather than a household one.

Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.