Challenges In Bangladesh Research Articles

COVID-19 and Mental Health Challenges in Bangladesh

Advances in Medical, Dental and Health Sciences,2020,3,2,31-33.DOI:10.5530/amdhs.2020.2.8Published:July 2020Type:Short CommunicationAuthors:KM Amran Hossain, Susmita Roy, Mohammad Mosayed Ullah, Russell Kabir, and SM Yasir Arafat Author(s) affiliations:KM Amran Hossain1,*, Susmita Roy2, Mohammad Mosayed Ullah3, Russell Kabir4, SM Yasir Arafat5 1Department of Physiotherapy, Bangladesh Health Professions Institute, Dhaka, BANGLADESH. 2Department of Psychiatry, Jalalabad Ragib Rabeya Medical College, Sylhet, BANGLADESH. 3Department of Occupational Therapy, School of Allied Health, La Trobe University, Melbourne, AUSTRALIA. 4School of Allied Health, Faculty of Health, Education, Medicine and Social Care, Anglia Ruskin University, Chelmsford, UK. 5Department of Psychiatry, Enam Medical College and Hospital, Dhaka, BANGLADESH. Abstract:Bangladesh is expected to face a rapid upraise of SARS- CoV-2 outbreak and the nation is in a state of locked down. Evidences suggests a nation suffers a wide range of mental health issues related to anxiety, fear, isolation, depression, panic, emotional outburst and sleep disturbances during COVID 19 pandemic. The psychological impairments are significant to the diagnosed cases, suspected cases, quarantine cases, health workers and their families and relatives. But the health individual spending times with an experience of pandemic are also vulnerable for mental health crisis. There are structured approaches and strategies for the management of this crisis that needs to be taken into account for a comprehensive strategy to meet the spreading challenge in the next potential horizon of COVID 19. Keywords:Bangladesh, Challenges, COVID-19, Mental Health, PandemicView:PDF (334.48 KB)

Digital inclusion challenges in Bangladesh: the case of the National ICT Policy

ABSTRACT This study assesses the impact and effectiveness of the National Information and Communications Technology Policy (NIP) in Bangladesh, which is a key legal framework for ‘Vision 2021’ and ‘Digital Bangladesh’. It investigates the extent to which digital inclusion can be achieved by the NIP strategies, as well as exploring the conceptualisation of digital inclusion, which undergirds the contemporary debate on the digital divide and inclusion. The study employs a qualitative approach using policy goal-means analysis to explore critical scrutiny of the internal rationality and logic of the NIP based on three distinct criteria of the digital inclusion analytical framework: ICT access, use and skills. The analysis argues that the policy is ambiguous and techno-centric, with a narrow digitisation frame of reference, which does not comprehensively address the issues associated with digital inclusion. Policy needs to be consistent and relevant to a person’s daily life, giving the user a sense of empowerment and skill. The article concludes that a focus on a skill-based approach and the context of societal challenges of Bangladesh is crucial to ensuring digital inclusion.

Public and Non-Profit Organisation Management in the Post-COVID-19 World: Possible Issues and Options for Bangladesh

This is a revised version of a webinar presentation for a program at the East Delta University, Bangladesh. At first, it underlines the possibility of a debate on the rationality of ‘unscientific lockdown’ that is to harm those people more who are likely to be affected less by the virus, especially in Bangladesh. The discussion then suggests six possible factors to define the post-COVID-19 world and its trajectories, that would create opportunity as well as challenges for Bangladesh. Characterising the non-profit sector with available six legal forms and their varied regulatory mechanisms and the overarching ‘Foreign Donations (Voluntary Activities) Regulation Ordinance of 1977 (amended in 1982), the work argues, referring to the related theories, that there may not be one uniform form of management or leadership. It is to be contingent upon the size, purpose, age, and (sources) of fund of the organisation. It proceeds further to analyse why all organization are to focus on ‘efficiency’ as a core dimension of management, while the public sector needs to consider ‘outcome equity’. The government should acknowledge the contribution of the non-profit sector and let it function to offer goods and services for the disaffected ‘majority’ without exploitation or profiteering in the guise of non-profit, but with enough regulation to ensure fairness and state security. As such, in the uncertain post-COVID-19 world, where the private sector is likely to shrink or lose face, the NPOs’ management basics should be self-regulation without any bias or division because the government and society would need them collectively more in ensuring outcome-equity. The work is based on the authors’ previous comprehensive works on the non-profit sector and other secondary sources of information and data, as cited and listed at the end.

COVID-19 and Bangladesh: Challenges and How to Address Them.

As the coronavirus outbreak quickly surges worldwide, many countries are adopting non-therapeutic preventive measures, which include travel bans, remote office activities, country lockdown, and most importantly, social distancing. However, these measures face challenges in Bangladesh, a lower-middle-income economy with one of the world's densest populations. Social distancing is difficult in many areas of the country, and with the minimal resources the country has, it would be extremely challenging to implement the mitigation measures. Mobile sanitization facilities and temporary quarantine sites and healthcare facilities could help mitigate the impact of the pandemic at a local level. A prompt, supportive, and empathic collaboration between the Government, citizens, and health experts, along with international assistance, can enable the country to minimize the impact of the pandemic.

Rural Livelihood Diversification in Bangladesh: Effect on Household Poverty and Inequality

The pervasiveness of poverty continues to be a daunting challenge for Bangladesh. This study attempts to examine the effect of different livelihood diversification on rural household poverty and income inequality. A panel dataset, which is used in this study, was collected in the three different years (1988, 2000 and 2008) from 62 villages across 57 districts of Bangladesh. Besides, 153 households from three districts of Bangladesh were also randomly selected as primary data. Multidimensional poverty index (MPI) was used to measure poverty whereas Gini coefficients and decomposition of Gini coefficients were used to measure inequality and to identify marginal effects of certain livelihood income source on total inequality. The results reveal that diversifying livelihood through income source changes has an impact on the poverty level and inequality among rural households. Following these changes, the overall poverty situation has been improving and income distribution has been worsening over the years. Households drastically reduce their poverty by diversifying their livelihood from only agriculture to part-time farming. Among different non-farm income sources, only self-employment has a positive contribution in decreasing income inequality since 2000. Incomes from migration and wage-employment widen income inequality in rural Bangladesh. Therefore, policy options should strive to expand rural industry and scope of self-employment in the rural areas along with agricultural sector development.

Exploring mental health needs and services among affected population in a cyclone affected area in costal Bangladesh: a qualitative case study

BackgroundBangladesh, one of the most densely populated countries in the world has been ranked 9th on the Climate Risk Index for 2017: the 10 most affected countries & 7th on the Long-Term Climate Risk Index: the 10 countries most affected from 1998 to 2017. Every year it is afflicted with various climatic disasters including floods, hurricanes and cyclones. Apart from the obvious devastation of lives and property, there is a huge increase in clinical diseases when these disasters occur. Mental health of affected persons after these disasters is a topic that is often neglected by local and national level.MethodsA qualitative case study was conducted on perceived need on mental health support & availability of such services in a cyclone affected area in rural Bangladesh. Ten (10) key informant interviews (KIIs) with different stakeholders and ten (10) in-depth interviews (IDIs) with affected people were taken.FindingsWe found that cyclones had numerous psychosocial impacts on the population including acute stress disorder, sleep disorder, post-traumatic stress disorders (PTSDs), generalized anxiety disorders, suicidal ideation and depression. The survivors had specific needs for receiving support. Children, elderly and women were perceived to be more vulnerable. The government and NGOs had no specific action plans and initiatives to address these issues and support the mental health of affected population. There was a visible gap in finding effective ways to provide affected people with the required mental health & psycho-social services (MHPSS).ConclusionResilient, responsive and self-sustaining health systems for this vulnerable population are required. Implementation of effective mental health programs and strong mental health policies remain a challenge in Bangladesh where there is a cultural fatalistic acceptance of mental health issues.

Water Crisis and Adaptation Strategies by Tribal Community: A Case Study in Baghaichari Upazila of Rangamati District in Bangladesh

Water crisis under changing climate is one of the major environmental challenges in Bangladesh. Tribal communities of Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHTs) have been suffering from water scarcity since long. This study aimed to identify the available water sources, extent of water scarcity and traditional adaptation practices to cope with water scarcity in hilly area of Bangladesh. This study was conducted by face-to-face interview using a structured questionnaire in 6 villages of three union of Bagaichari upazila which were selected through stratified random sampling method. The main sources of water for drinking, domestic use and irrigation were river, streams, dam over streams (Godha), very small stream (Thagalok), well dug on hill bottom (Shillaw hoo), springs, big dug well, tube-well, ring-well, river, and pond. In every year December-April is the dry and water crisis period. To overcome the severity, people built small dams (Godha) to raise water level and use in irrigation and domestic purposes. For drinking water maximum 42% people dependent on shilaw hoo. For domestic purposes 38% households dependent on streams and 65% dependent on Ghoda for irrigation water. Tribal people of the study area have to walk a long hours to collect water from sources located about 1-2.5 kilometers away from the settlement with earthen or plastic buckets sized 10 to 15 litters. Water crisis was found in severe condition since last 5-10 years. Before that water was available in hilly region. Maximum people (89%) reported deforestation as the main reason of water crisis. This study suggests both government and non-governmental professionals to foster local communities’ adaptation capacity against the water scarcity in Bagaichari upazila. This study will play a vital role to take relevant adaptation policies both by the policy makers and practitioners.

Introduction of Bond Market: Would It Be a Possible Solution for Bangladesh?

This study aims at investigating the prospects of a bond market in Bangladesh. Most of the developed and developing economies have an active and successful bond market. But Bangladesh despite being one of the fastest-growing economies, does not have an active bond market. Hence, this study was designed to investigate the impact of a bond market on the economic growth of Asian countries and what are the prospects and challenges in Bangladesh. To investigate the benefits of a bond market in Bangladesh, this study examined the relationship between bond market return and economic growth of 4 Asian economies which included, India, Indonesia, Hong Kong, and Japan. The average annual yield of 10-year bonds was used as the independent variable and the annual GDP growth rate of these countries was used as the dependent variable in the econometric model. Data for the last 20 years from 2000 to 2019 were used for all the variables. The Unit Root Test showed that 3 variables were stationary at first difference and the other five variables were stationary at level. The Johansen Co-integration test identified the long-run association among the variables indicating the long-run relationship between bond market return and economic growth. Granger Causality revealed a bi-directional relationship for India; unidirectional relationship for Indonesia (Bond→GDP growth) and Japan (GDP Growth→Bond); and no unidirectional or bidirectional relationship among the bond market return and economic growth of Hong Kong. The various new projects, the overextension of the banking sector, and perhaps the overall good condition of the economy has created the perfect situation to develop a bond market in Bangladesh. As there are conditions that provide advantages in bond market creation, there are also various challenges that the government must overcome. Some of the most important challenges to clear up are the underdeveloped tax system, the illiquid or absent secondary market, the alternative source of debt, and the overall lack of investors. Considering the various developed bond markets these policy implications could seriously aid the development process.

Understanding the interplay of behavioural aspects of firm competitiveness: a case of apparel industry of Bangladesh

The apparel sector experienced substantial growth since its inception, however, several factors tended to create uncertainty and present challenges for Bangladesh. The aim of this study is to develop a conceptual framework of structural equation modelling (SEM) based on extant literature about firm competitiveness with respect to adoption of information and communication technologies (ICT), green management, organisational learning, innovativeness, and organisational culture. The methodology of the study employed opinion survey in two phases. Data from the first phase include 415 observations which have been utilised for understanding the pattern of perception of the respondents. The second set of data includes 268 observations which have been utilised to evaluate the measurement model and the structural model. The results reveal that firm competitiveness is positively influenced by innovativeness, organisational learning, green management, and adoption of ICT. The influence of organisational culture on firm competitiveness was not found significant. Innovativeness was found to mediate the association between firm competitiveness and green management. The association between green management and firm competitiveness was found to be mediated by innovativeness. The findings extend the use of underpinned research works and thus can be considered as contribution to the existing body of literature.

A Prospective Assessment of Biomass Energy Resources: Potential, Technologies and Challenges in Bangladesh

Olden energy system only operated well when energy fuel was inexpensive and lavishly accessible, but absolutely does not produce affluence if the energy fuel becomes costly and scare. Bangladesh is passing by a cross road in its effort to struggle the present energy crisis and future energy need. Bangladesh has struggled in finding new energy sources for a long time. The extensive dependence on limited coal and gas has put the country under tremendous pressure. It is projected that with the rapid increase in population and industrialization the demand of energy will be doubled in 2050. Geologically it is impossible to connect by the grid line to the rivers, canals, island based off-grid area. Renewable resources has opened new door with ample opportunities for those off-grid areas by generating grid quality electricity. For thousands of years biomass has been overwhelming as associate degree energy supply by men. To ensure the optimal utilization there is the need to assess the existing biomass potential, technologies and challenges. The assessment is conducted by analyzing the accessible data from diverse consistent sources through the procedure of exact qualitative and quantitative to authenticate the results. This assessment evaluates the biomass energy potentiality which includes agricultural residues, forestry residues, animal dung, solid waste from municipalities, and the consumption pattern of biomass, practicing technologies, and challenges in Bangladesh. The assessed entire quantity of biomass source offered for energy in Bangladesh in 2017-2018 is 94.16 (million tons) with yearly energy potentiality of 47 (million tons) of coal equal. In 2017-2018, the retrievable quantity of biomass is 94.16 (million tons) which has associate energy potentiality of 1378 (PJ) that is comparable to 383 (TWh) of electricity.

Fish is the Preferred Animal-Source Food in the Rural Community of Southern Bangladesh

Increased intake of animal-source foods (ASFs) is crucial to tackle multiple nutritional challenges in Bangladesh, and contribute to achieving targets under the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Qualitative and quantitative data were collected to assess current ASFs intake behaviors and preferred ASFs, among three types of households, namely 1. aquaculture intervention (AI); 2. aquaculture non-intervention (ANI); and 3. non-aquaculture non-intervention (NANI) households and children aged 6–59 months, to understand whether intake of ASFs vary by the types of households. Purposive sampling was conducted to obtain a total of 100 households (AI, 50; ANI, 25; NANI, 25). Fish was the most commonly consumed (52.2–61.5%) and preferred (73.9–84.6%) ASF by the majority households, across study groups; although amount (mean ± SD) of intake (g/d/person) by NANI households was statistically significantly lower (NANI, 105.5 ± 53.3; p < 0.001), compared to other two groups (AI, 163.6 ± 64.7 and ANI, 159.6 ± 53). Fish species selection for household consumption was led by taste, health benefits, availability, and price. Pangasius was the first fish species of choice fed to children, due to having fewer small bones compared to other commonly consumed fish species. Dietary interventions to prioritize fish, in targeting increased intake of ASFs among study population, for improved food and nutrition security.

Coming Stakes in the Ocean: Food Production, Shipping and Trade, Tourism, Ecosystem-biodiversity, New Technologies and Climate Change Challenges in Bangladesh

Blue economy is an emerging concept in all over the world where Bangladesh is not in exception. The blue economy of Bangladesh is subject to multiple interlinked activities. Among the major activities, food production, shipping and trade, tourism, ecosystem-biodiversity, new technologies and climate change challenges are the most promising sectors which are discussed in this chapter to project the present and future potential, constrains, ways to overcome in the context of the blue economy of Bangladesh following various published literatures. The review has revealed that Bangladesh has enormous resources which have great potential to uplift the existing economy, improving livelihoods, while significantly reducing environmental risks and ecological scarcities. However, there are lot of constrains which hinder to get the ultimate fruit from these potentialities. The major constrains include lack of policy, institutional or organizational structure and coordination, data or information, knowledge in innovating and diversifying marine products and services, marketing strategies, continuous scientific research, skilled manpower with motivation and dedication, public awareness, maritime security and concern in marine and coastal environment. Initiations to overcome these constrains with long and short term strategic plans and properly implementing the strategic decisions will bring the state more productive and could be a model country with blue economy approach.

Linking agroecosystems producing farmed seafood with food security and health status to better address the nutritional challenges in Bangladesh.

Aquaculture is one of the fastest-growing food production sectors in many low-income and food-deficit countries with aquatic ecozones. Yet its specific impact on nutrition and livelihood in local communities, where commercial and/or export-orientated aquaculture activities are developed, is largely unknown. The present narrative and argumentative review aims to provide an overview of our current understanding of the connections between aquaculture agroecosystems, local and national fish production, fish consumption patterns and nutrition and health outcomes. The agroecological dynamic in a coastal-estuarine zone, where the aquatic environment ranges from fully saline to freshwater, is complex, with seasonal and annual fluctuations in freshwater supply creating a variable salinity gradient which impacts on aquatic food production and on food production more generally. The local communities living in these dynamic aquatic ecozones are vulnerable to poverty, poor diet and health, while these ecosystems produce highly valuable and nutritious aquatic foods. Policies addressing the specific challenges of risk management of these communities are limited by the sectoral separation of aquatic food production - the fisheries and aquaculture sector, the broader food sector - and public health institutions. Here we provide an argument for the integration of these factors to improve aquaculture value chains to better address the nutritional challenges in Bangladesh.

Rural women’s empowerment and children’s food and nutrition security in Bangladesh

Abstract Women’s empowerment and child stunting remain key development challenges in Bangladesh. The objective of this study is to analyse the influence of female empowerment in agriculture, on child food security. This study uses household survey data from two waves of the Bangladesh Integrated Household Survey (BIHS), a rich panel dataset of over 6500 households in rural Bangladesh which includes detailed child anthropometric measurements of children under five years old. We adopt a multidimensional approach to female empowerment by analysing five key empowerment indicators from the Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index (WEAI). The multivariate regression analysis explores the relationship between five key empowerment indicators and child stunting, a proxy for child food security. Our empirical analysis finds that women’s autonomy in household productive decisions and confidence in public speaking are associated with significantly higher children’s height-for-age z-scores (haz) and a decreased probability of stunting in this sample. These results suggest expanding women’s empowerment is likely to complement nutritional interventions to reduce stunting in Bangladesh, while making progress towards other social and development goals.

Nutrigenomics: Opportunities and Challenges in Bangladesh

Nutrigenomics: Opportunities and Challenges in Bangladesh

Analyzing multi-temporal satellite imagery and stakeholders' perceptions to have an insight into how forest co-management is changing the protected area landscapes in Bangladesh

Forest protected area co-management, which is viewed as an effective forest conservation strategy in many parts of the world, got rooted in Bangladesh in 2004. Nevertheless, its success in maintaining healthy status of forest landscapes is subject to strong challenges in Bangladesh where anthropogenic pressure on forest resources is extremely high. In his study, satellite imageries of two randomly selected important PAs of the country - Lawachara National Park (LNP) and Teknaf Wildlife Sanctuary (TWS) - were analyzed and linked to people's perception in understanding the conservation dynamics in the co-managed PAs. While the overall rate of forest cover loss declined from 33.56% during 2004–2011 to 11.23% during 2011–2017, the net impact on individual PA was not so positive: forest cover declination rate increased in LNP but decreased in TWS. However, even though bushy area is on significant rise in LNP (4.72% during 2004–2011, 40.12% during 2011–2017), it showed a little falling trend in TWS (7.44% during 2004–2011, 6.61% during 2011–2017). While people engaged in co-management were more inclined to highlight the success of co-management activities (Odds ratio = 1.721), the forest officials were less likely to say so (Odds ratio = 0.758). All parties except the direct beneficiaries of co-management activities had the same perception that co-management did not significantly improve the forest cover conditions in the PAs. The study, a combination of science and the society, has come up with a succinct conclusion that common people have strong insights into the extent of impact of forest management policy, and thus, their opinion should be accounted for while formulating or implementing such policy.

Sustainable Biomass as an Alternative Energy Source: Bangladesh Perspective

Presently, the crisis of energy has become a growing concern all over the world and a serious barrier for the developing nations. Conversely, the resources of fossil fuels are limited and depleting due to the exploration and higher production activities around the glove. The impact of fossil fuels exploration has become a serious threat for naturalism and creates environmental hazardous accidents. However, the demand for energy in Bangladesh is increasing day by day and fossil fuel reserves continue the countries demand almost only 50 years. So, it is the high time to utilize its natural biomass resources to fulfill energy demand. The climate condition and waste generation rate of Bangladesh is key factors for biomass energy production. Nowadays the Bangladeshi government has made an agenda “waste to electricity” thus the utilization of biomass resources has become a blessing for the static economic growth in the nation. Recently Bangladeshi government has made an extra effort for the commercialization and marketable of biomass energy engendering and production in the country. This paper explored the potential of biomass energy as a sustainable energy source and their future implementation challenges in Bangladesh.

An Evidence-Based Possible Framework for Addressing Economic and Health Challenges of the Ageing Population in Bangladesh

Political unrest, poor economic growth, low savings and tiny coverage of pension are making the elderly to face challenges to survive in Bangladesh. Health care costs of elderly affected their household living standard significantly due to the unbalanced financial liability in Bangladesh. In this study, we conducted a survey on elderly of 311 sample size from four thana: Dhanmondi, Gulshan, Uttara and Mohammadpur in Dhaka City. Both probability and non-probability sampling methods were used to collect demographic, economic, and health related information of elderly. Elderly mostly depend on their family and pension for their financial support at their retirement age, while they rarely depend on insurance in Bangladesh. Besides, price inflation is another cost driver for elderly. This paper focuses on exploring the current state of health and economic position of elderly. Therefore, the logistic regression model was derived to identify the significant key factors (income, pension, health Insurance, physical independence & gender) which were influencing the treatment cost of elderly. Hence, our study also suggests the policy implications (such as specialized bank, social insurance authority, security alert apps, subsidies catering companies, specialized pharmacies etc.) for the upcoming ageing challenges in Bangladesh.

Climate Governance Initiatives: Snapshots from Bangladesh

Bangladesh is often cited as one of the most vulnerable countries to the effects of climate change. The impacts of climate change are exacerbating the existing poverty and inequality challenges in Bangladesh. Adaption and mitigation to climate change are now unavoidable demands and considered as realistic actions to help the survival of humans. The objective of this paper is to explore the role of “governance” to promote mitigation of, and adaptation to human induced climate change. The study considers “governance” as a mechanism of the effective policy measures and implementation, responsible state and non-state institutions and the active civic participation in this process.

Fishing industry in Bangladesh

Purpose of this case study is to understand fishing as occupation, its related industry and how fishing industry performs in Bangladesh. Fishing is a process to catch fish. Process for catch fish are: Gathering, Spearing, Netting, Angling and Trapping. Fishing industry is led by three different sectors; Commercial sector, tradition sector and Recreational sector. Fishing is major industry that contributes heavily in Bangladesh GDP. This industry had shown growth over the last four decades. Even after facing various challenges in Bangladesh, it is still continue to grow. Let’s review how this industry works out in Bangladesh.