Civil aviation and tourism minister Afroza Khanam announced on Wednesday that the Bangladesh government intends to enhance visitor safety and emergency response services by establishing health centers at its major sea beaches.

This was discussed at a meeting held this morning at 11:00 am in the conference room of the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism with the Centre for Injury Prevention and Research, Bangladesh (CIPRB), the operator of the Sea-Safe Lifeguard Service in Cox's Bazar, and donor organisation the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI).

“We must revise our policies to ensure the safety of tourists’ lives,” Afroza Khanam said. 

“We need to set up health centres at Cox’s Bazar and Patuakhali beaches,” she added, directing district administrators in both coastal regions to submit proposals to the ministry without delay.

During the meeting, State Minister for Civil Aviation and Tourism M. Rashiduzzaman Millat said the government planned to increase the number of tourist police officers and lifeguards to improve public safety at popular beach destinations.

He said corporate social responsibility (CSR) funding would be used in the short term to support lifeguard operations, while permanent infrastructure would be developed over time.

The meeting was attended by senior government officials, including the tourism ministry secretary and representatives from the CIPRB and the UK-based RNLI, which supports beach safety programmes in Bangladesh.

CIPRB has operated lifeguard services at Cox's Bazar Sea Beach since 2012 with financial backing from RNLI, helping to improve water safety at the country's most popular tourist destination and one of the world’s longest natural sea beaches.