Before you start

International health insurance with medical evacuation, arranged before arrival
Passport and visa for hospital registration
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 before you arrive
Expatriate policies underwrite at purchase. Check the evacuation limit, whether it covers a companion, and whether it requires the insurer's prior authorisation — because in Bangladesh the evacuation clause is the part of the policy most likely to be used for anything serious.
OnlineWho: YouBefore arrival
2
Register at a private hospital in the Gulshan–Baridhara area
Evercare in Bashundhara, Square in Panthapath and United in Gulshan are the facilities most used by the international community. Register before you need to. Also identify which is realistically reachable from your home at rush hour, because Dhaka traffic makes proximity decisive.
In personWho: YouMonth 1
3
Buy air purifiers before the season starts
Dhaka's dry-season air regularly exceeds an index of 200 and at times 250, driven by brick kilns ringing the city, vehicle emissions, construction dust and a winter inversion. Size the purifiers for the bedrooms and the room you work in, and buy spare filters — availability tightens once the news coverage begins.
OnlineWho: YouBy November
4
Take water and food hygiene seriously 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, and get dengue advice — Dhaka has had serious dengue seasons and mosquito control at home is a real precaution rather than a fussy one.
In personWho: You
5
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. Fire Service & Civil Defence also runs a direct hotline on 16163 for fire emergencies. Both are worth programming.
In personWho: You
6
Sort dentistry and routine diagnostics locally and cheaply
Private dentistry, optometry and imaging in Dhaka are inexpensive by international standards and generally good at the better clinics. Many residents self-fund routine care and reserve insurance for the serious end, which is a rational structure here.
In personWho: You

Documents you’ll need

Insurance policy and card with evacuation cover confirmed
Passport and visa
Vaccination records
Generic-name prescription list for ongoing medication
Employer group scheme details, if applicable

Things most newcomers don’t know

Dhaka's dry-season air is a foreseeable annual health event, and brick kilns are a large part of why.

The city appears repeatedly among the world's ten most polluted through January and February, with index readings above 200 and at times above 250. The drivers are specific: hundreds of brick kilns ringing the city firing through the dry season, dense vehicle emissions, construction dust and a winter inversion that stops any of it dispersing. It is not a general urban haze that varies with luck — it is seasonal, predictable and severe, and it should be planned for in October rather than discovered in January.

Source: IQAir monitoring; press reporting

Evacuation cover is the part of the policy most likely to matter.

Dhaka's private hospitals handle routine and much serious care well and inexpensively. For complex surgery, oncology and some specialist paediatrics, the established pattern among both the expatriate community and affluent Bangladeshis is treatment in Bangkok, Singapore or India. That makes the evacuation clause a substantive part of the policy rather than a footnote. Check the limit, whether a companion is covered, and whether prior authorisation is required before it will pay.

Source: community-reported

999 is a single national number covering police, fire and ambulance — this is genuinely simpler than the regional norm.

Bangladesh's National Emergency Service, operated by Bangladesh Police, is toll-free and covers accident, crime, fire and ambulance on one number. Compared with Pakistan's split between 15, 1122, 16 and 115, or Nepal's 100/101/102, this is a real administrative advantage and it means there is one number to teach a household. Fire Service & Civil Defence also maintains a direct hotline on 16163 for fire emergencies specifically.

Source: National Emergency Service 999; Fire Service & Civil Defence

Dengue is a resident's concern in Dhaka, not a traveller's.

Bangladesh has had severe dengue seasons with large case numbers concentrated in Dhaka, and the vector breeds in standing water in exactly the places a dense city provides. Household measures — screens, removing standing water on balconies and in plant trays, repellent during the day rather than at night, because the Aedes mosquito bites in daylight — are ordinary Dhaka housekeeping. Arriving with a traveller's mental model of mosquito risk understates it.

Source: community-reported; public health reporting