Before you start

International health insurance with medical evacuation, arranged before arrival
Clarity on how your policy handles a referral from a city 250 km from the capital
Vaccination records, including typhoid and hepatitis A discussion with a doctor
HEPA air purifiers, bought before December

Step-by-step

1
Arrange insurance with evacuation cover, and ask about the Dhaka leg
Expatriate policies underwrite at purchase. Beyond the evacuation limit and companion cover, ask the question a Dhaka resident never has to: how does the policy handle a transfer from a city 250 kilometres from the capital, who authorises it out of hours, and does it fund air or road transfer. That gap is where non-capital postings get caught.
OnlineWho: YouBefore arrival
2
Register locally and identify your Dhaka referral route in advance
Rajshahi Medical College and the private hospitals around it handle routine and much urgent care. For complex surgery, oncology and specialist paediatrics the realistic answer is Dhaka. Establish which local facility you use and which Dhaka hospital it refers into before you need to know.
In personWho: YouMonth 1
3
Buy air purifiers before the dry season, despite the city's reputation
Rajshahi's reputation rests on real 2016 WHO data showing the largest particulate reduction of any city in the world, but that gain has substantially reversed — the city measured an air quality index of 167 on the morning of 6 November 2025, and Bangladeshi reporting now places it among the country's most polluted. Brick kilns around the city are the leading local source. Buy for the bedrooms and the room you work in before December.
OnlineWho: YouBy November
4
Treat April and May heat as a health matter, not a discomfort
The northwest records Bangladesh's highest temperatures, and the Barind's dry pre-monsoon heat is a genuine hazard for anyone doing outdoor or field work. Local practice is to work early and stop at midday. Adopt it, keep electrolytes and water in the vehicle, and take heat illness symptoms seriously rather than pushing through.
In personWho: YouApril–May
5
Take water, food and mosquito precautions from day one
Filtered or bottled drinking water is universal practice including in Bangladeshi households. 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 is ordinary housekeeping.
In personWho: You
6
Know that 999 covers ambulance as well as police and fire
The National Emergency Service on 999 is a single toll-free number operated by Bangladesh Police covering accident, crime, fire and ambulance, nationwide. Fire Service & Civil Defence also runs a hotline on 16163. Both are worth programming.
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 or university group scheme details, if applicable

Things most newcomers don’t know

Rajshahi's clean-air reputation is genuine history and a poor guide to the present — the reversal is the fact that matters.

On WHO's 2016 data, Rajshahi cut PM10 from 195 micrograms per cubic metre in 2014 to about 64 by 2016 and roughly halved PM2.5 from 70 to 37 — a reduction of around 67 per cent, the largest of any city in the world, achieved through tree planting, paving, waste collection and battery rickshaws. That is worth knowing and worth admiring. It is also nine years old. Bangladeshi reporting now describes the same city as among the country's most polluted, and it measured 167 on the morning of 6 November 2025 with brick kilns the leading local source. People move here on the strength of the 2016 story and do not buy purifiers, which is the wrong lesson to draw from a genuinely good one.

Source: WHO ambient air quality data; Prothom Alo air quality reporting

The health hazard profile here is the inverse of coastal Bangladesh, and that is a real reason to choose it.

Khulna's residents plan for cyclones, storm surge, embankment failure and drinking-water salinity. Rajshahi has none of those — it is inland, on raised Barind land, with no cyclone exposure and no salinity problem. What it has instead is heat and dust: the country's highest temperatures in April and May and the driest air in Bangladesh, at roughly 1,625 mm of annual rainfall against a national average near 2,550 mm. Those are more manageable hazards for most households, and anyone comparing Bangladeshi postings on climate risk should weigh that properly rather than treating the country as uniform.

Source: Barind Tract rainfall data; Barind Multipurpose Development Authority

You are 250 kilometres from the specialists, so the transfer plan is the plan.

Rajshahi Medical College and the private hospitals around it are competent for routine and much urgent care, but complex surgery, oncology and specialist paediatrics mean Dhaka, and then usually Bangkok, Singapore or India. That makes the domestic leg — how it is authorised, whether it is by road or air, who decides at three in the morning — a substantive question your policy probably does not address clearly. Ask it before you need the answer.

Source: community-reported

999 is one national number for police, fire and ambulance.

Bangladesh's National Emergency Service, operated by Bangladesh Police, is toll-free and covers accident, crime, fire and ambulance on a single number everywhere in the country. Compared with the split emergency systems in neighbouring countries this is a real administrative advantage and means one number to teach a household.

Source: Bangladesh Fire Service & Civil Defence; Directorate General of Health Services

Common mistakes to avoid

Skipping air purifiers because of a clean-air reputation that is nine years out of date.
Buying insurance that is vague about a transfer originating 250 km from the capital.
Doing midday outdoor or field work on the Barind in April and May.
Assuming a small inland city has specialist medical depth.
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.