Services In Bangladesh Research Articles

Assessing mobile banking services in Bangladesh: A study of customer's perception

Assessing mobile banking services in Bangladesh: A study of customer's perception

Vulnerabilities of older adults and mitigation measures to address COVID-19 outbreak in Bangladesh: A review.

The infection with coronavirus disease (COVID-19) had an extremely negative influence on public health and the global economy. Covid-19 infection is more likely to affect the elderly than younger people, and pre-existing medical conditions, such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, and respiratory diseases, might lead to death due to COVID-19 infection. In low-income, developing, and highly dense countries like Bangladesh, the aging population is particularly vulnerable to the pandemic due to inadequate health services, socio-economic circumstances, environmental settings, religious and cultural beliefs, personal cleanliness habits, and a contemplative approach to infectious disease. Besides, recent cyclones and floods have combined effects on older people's increasing vulnerabilities. In this study, we reviewed and examined the vulnerabilities of older adults to the COVID-19 outbreak in Bangladesh. Different mitigation measures are discussed to protect the elderly from the adverse effect of the pandemic. This study proposes several steps to reinforce the commitment to social care and health care services to guarantee well-being, encourage preventive measures, and increase access to older people's health services in Bangladesh. The core findings will provide a valuable guideline for older adults, scientists, and policymakers to take effective long-term measures to mitigate the pandemic's risk.

Application of the technology acceptance model to assess the use and preferences of ICTs among field-level extension officers in Bangladesh

Investment in ICTs has not always yielded the expected results due to inadequate usage of ICTs by extension staffs. Our study aims to present a more general account of the use of ICTs and preferences of extension and advisory workers at the grassroots level. Following the technology acceptance model (TAM) and Dillman survey method, a google form was used to collect data from 131 sub-district level extension officers covering 48 (out of 64) districts of Bangladesh. Descriptive statistics and structural equation modeling was used to analyse the data and test the complex causal relationship of TAM components. Results revealed that the extension and advisory workers obtained ICT tools from the extension organization but received insufficient organizational supports to purchase internet packages, maintenance costs, and training to continue the use of it. Factor like perceived usefulness of ICTs positively influenced the extension workers' intention to use ICT-based information systems. A better understanding of the underlying reasoning behind the intention to use ICTs could aid future intervention design and facilitate ICT adoption in extension services in Bangladesh and beyond.

An Analysis of the Women Commuters’ Satisfaction in the Public Bus Service in Bangladesh: A Survey on Local Buses in Major Cities

Bangladesh is one of the most populated developing countries where public bus service plays a vital role as a public transport mode since it is easily available and cost-effective. In the social, commercial, educational, and administrative spheres, women’s participation in the labor force in economic enterprises is steadily expanding in the country. Very little research considers only women commuters to analyze the service quality of public buses and they selected only Dhaka city as a study area. However, a large number of trips were generated by women commuters in the industrial and commercial zones such as Gazipur, Narayanganj, and Dhaka. This paper ascertains the public bus service attributes that affect women commuters’ satisfaction as well as finds out the major problems of women commuters while traveling on public buses and the possible solutions to them. This survey included 766 women commuters from Dhaka, Narayanganj, and Gazipur who were interviewed face to face. Structural Equation Model (SEM) was used as the instrument for identifying the service quality (SQ) attributes that influenced the women commuters’ satisfaction. A series of models were developed based on the trial-and-error method and the model M3 is selected as the best fit according to SEM fit indices values. The study’s main goal was to compile a list of service quality attributes that influence women commuters’ satisfaction. Major issues with the current public bus service in terms of safety and security, as well as remedies, were identified through discussions with experienced female commuters. These findings reveal that women commuters’ satisfaction is primarily influenced by safety and security, as well as the degree of comfort provided by bus service because they frequently encounter major safety and security issues on public buses and want an immediate remedy. This paper offers some potential strategies for addressing the issues, which may prompt policymakers to pay more attention to these aspects in transportation planning.

Experiences of people with physical disabilities when accessing microfinance services in Bangladesh: A qualitative study

This paper represents the experiences of people with physical disabilities in accessing microfinance lending. Microfinance emerged as a tool to eradicate poverty and empower poor people; however, accessing it is challenging for many people with physical disabilities. This qualitative study was conducted through semi-structured in-depth interviews with twenty people with physical disabilities in Bangladesh to explore their insights into the issues that they face in accessing microfinance. Data was collected from both urban and rural areas and both male and female participants. Underpinned by the social model of disability, this study finds that people with physical disabilities experience substantial exclusion, stigma and barriers in accessing microfinance. In many cases, despite the efforts of microfinance institutions, credit is unavailable to many people with physical disabilities, as they experience negative and unfriendly behaviour from microfinance staff and unaffordable credit conditions. Moreover, people with physical disabilities have fewer opportunities to access non-credit services, such as savings, insurance, training and complaints mechanisms. To address these challenges, microfinance institutions need to develop disability-friendly and robust institutional policy reforms. People with disabilities should be actively involved in the policy development process. This study will not only share the experiences of people with physical disabilities from a context in the Global South, but also provides insights which might be useful to understanding the challenges that other people with disabilities in different countries face in terms of financial inclusion.

Community Engagement in The Telehealth Service for Aged People with Diabetes: COVID-19 response in Bangladesh

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to present a better understanding of the specialized telehealth service in Bangladesh from the service provider and service recipients by aged people Method: Both quantitative and qualitative methods were used to collect data from Diabetes Mellitus (DM) patients. Data were collected by online telephone interviewing with an interview schedule. A total of 100 aged people with diabetes were selected purposively for a quantitative interview and 10 In-depth Interviews (IDIs) & Key Informant Interviews (KIIs) were conducted. Result: The majority of patients aged was between 61 to 68 years with a mean age of 63.6 ± 7.01years. The difference of age of DM patients by sex was found statistically significant (x2 = 39.49, df = 31; Cramer’s V = .032; P=<.003). The main source of information about digital health was: relatives (55%), neighbors (31%), television (12%), newspaper (10%), social media (9%), and healthcare providers (6%). Strong relationship was found between age of respondents and sources of information (x2= 77.08; Cramer’s V= .032, df = 13; Sig; P= < .009). About 59% of DM patients were benefited from telehealth services during COVID-19, however; they encountered some difficulties like effective access to digital technology, cost, and diagnosis facilities. About 83% of respondents suggest formalizing community engagement programs to extend the digital health services during a health emergency. The common barriers to the engagement of community people in digital health care are lack of social awareness, lack of peer group support, and gender disparities. Poor counseling, language barrier, bad internet signal, and lack of family members' support were the key barriers during teleconsultation services. Conclusion: Telehealth has the potential to address critical health issues of aged people and effective community engagement may be the best option to reach older people with diabetes in Bangladesh during any health emergency.

Adopting Andersen's behavior model to identify factors influencing maternal healthcare service utilization in Bangladesh.

Equitable maternal healthcare service access and it's optimum utilization remains a challenge for many developing countries like Bangladesh, and different predisposing, enabling, and need-based factors affect the level of maternal healthcare use. The evidently poor maternal healthcare service utilization and disparities among groups in Bangladesh are concerning considering its effect on maternal health outcomes. The study aimed to identify the factors that influence maternal healthcare service (MHS) utilization in Bangladesh by adopting Andersen's behavior model of health service use as the theoretical framework. The 2017-18 Bangladesh Demographic Health Survey (2017-18 BDHS) data were used which is nationally representative. The survey study used two-stage stratified sampling to select study households, and data were collected through face-to-face interviews. The desirable, moderate, and undesirable maternal health service (MHS) package was developed based on antenatal, and delivery care services use during pregnancy and childbirth. Multinomial logistic regression and discriminant analysis were performed to analyze the factors that affect MHS use. Out of 5,011 ever-married women, only 31.2% of women utilized the desirable level of MHS. The likelihood of using the desirable level of MHS package, relative to the undesirable category, was 9.38 times (OR: 9.38, 95% CI: 4.30-20.44) higher for women with a higher level of education compared to illiterate women, and the same trend was noticed for husband's education. The wealth index had the highest standardized function coefficients (Beta coefficient: 0.49) in discriminatory function. Women with the richest wealth index were more than 23 times (OR: 23.27, 95% CI: 12.69-42.68) likely to have utilized desirable MHS than their poorest counterparts. The likelihood of service uses also varied according to the child's birth order, administrative regions, and area of residence (rural vs. urban). Policies and interventions directed towards poverty reduction, universal education, and diminishing geographical disparities of healthcare access might influence the desirable use of maternal healthcare services in Bangladesh.

CUSTOMERS’ ASSESSMENT ON E-BANKING SERVICE QUALITY IN BANGLADESH: CHALLENGES AND STRATEGIES

This paper attempts to investigate to understand customers’ evaluation regarding service quality of e-banking in Bangladesh. It also examines the major challenges and required strategies for promoting e-banking. To conduct the study, a total number of 205 respondents were taken as sample from Chittagong region by using simple judgmental sampling technique. A face-to-face interview method was followed by using a structured questionnaire to collect the data. Five points Likert scale was used to examine the customers’ evaluation on the service quality and through statistical measures it analyze the problem. Garret’s ranking technique was applied to rank the qualitative data for analyzing challenges and required strategies of e-banking. The study reveals that from the customers’ assessment, e-banking saves time and hazard, facilitates quick and easier access to information, speedy transaction, receiving service easily, ensures accuracy, effectiveness and security, provides versatile service, anytime, anywhere banking facility. The study also found that technological disturbance, insufficient infrastructure, unavailability of service in rural areas, high service charge are the major challenges of e-banking service in Bangladesh. The customers suggests to develop infrastructure, upgrade technology, increase security measure, enhance promotion for developing customers’ awareness, introduce innovative initiative of Bangladesh bank, extend service across the country etc.

Gaps in the implementation and uptake of maternal nutrition interventions in antenatal care services in Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia and India.

Antenatal care (ANC) is the largest health platform globally for delivering maternal nutrition interventions (MNIs) to pregnant women. Yet, large missed opportunities remain in nutrition service delivery. This paper examines how well evidence‐based MNIs were incorporated in national policies and programs in Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia and India. We compared the nutrition content of ANC protocols against global recommendations. We used survey data to elucidate the coverage of micronutrient supplementation, weight gain monitoring, dietary and breastfeeding counselling. We reviewed literature, formative research and program assessments to identify barriers and enabling factors of service provision and maternal nutrition practices. Nutrition information in national policies and protocols was often fragmented, incomplete and did not consistently follow global recommendations. Nationally representative data on MNIs in ANC was inadequate, except for iron and folic acid supplementation. Coverage data from subnational surveys showed similar patterns of strengths and weaknesses. MNI coverage was consistently lower than ANC coverage with the lowest coverage of weight gain monitoring and variable coverage of dietary and breastfeeding counselling. Key common factors associated with coverage were micronutrient supply disruptions; suboptimal counselling on maternal diet, weight gain, and breastfeeding; and limited or no record keeping. Adherence of women to micronutrient supplementation and dietary recommendations was low and associated with late and too few ANC contacts, poor maternal knowledge and self‐efficacy, and insufficient family and community support. Models of comprehensive nutrition protocols and health systems that deliver maternal nutrition services in ANC are urgently needed along with national data systems to track progress.

Anticipation & Advancement of DTH Service in Bangladesh

DTH (Direct-To-Home) TV is one of the important inventions which created a revolution in the television industry by the grace of modern technology and achieving popularity day by day. The objective of the study was to analyze the advancement and to find the anticipation and impact of DTH service in Bangladesh. Primary and secondary data both were used in this research paper. The conducting period of this research was from April - August of 2021 surveying a questionnaire of 560 participants in both urban and rural areas of 8 divisions in Bangladesh. To analyze data and present the result simple statistical tools; pie-chart, bar diagram and tables were used. The findings revealed most of the users use DTH TV for its clear picture quality, payment through mobile banking & the promotional benefits of numerous HD channels. DTH providers should enhance their features and the level services with the updated technology.

Visitor’s Willingness to Pay for Cultural Ecosystem Services in Bangladesh: An Assessment for Lawachara National Park, a Biodiversity Hotspot

The valuation of natural ecosystems helps policymakers to allocate adequate resources for the provision of ecosystem services they provide. Cultural ecosystem services are the non-material benefits we obtain from nature, which include but are not limited to recreation, aesthetic enjoyment, physical and mental health benefits. They are essential for a proper sense of a place, human health, and wellbeing. We quantified the recreational and other non-material benefits of Lawachara National Park (LNP), one of the oldest and most diverse forest protected areas and tourist attractions in northeast Bangladesh. A Modified Travel Cost Method (MTCM) was applied for quantifying the recreational and other non-material values of LNP. Altogether 309 respondents were interviewed, covering both peak season and slack season. In our MTCM, we considered several additional factors, unlike the commonly used Travel Cost Method (TCM). The value of cultural ecosystem services of LNP was estimated to be Taka 476.70 million and Taka 476.44 million per annum using MTCM and TCM, respectively. The value estimated using MTCM was marginally higher than the value estimated using TCM and was due to the additional variables we considered in our modified approach. We believe our estimates using MTCM will guide policymakers to properly value natural ecosystems and facilitate adequate resource allocation for ecotourism in LNP and elsewhere.

Effect of socio-economic and demographic factors on ride-sourcing services in Dhaka City, Bangladesh

Ride-sourcing services have emerged in the entire world through advancement of information technology. This service has also penetrated in the market of the developing countries similar to Bangladesh with immense potential. People have adopted this new trip concept with a hope to ease their daily lives by hassle free movement. In developed countries, making trips using ride-sourcing services have been greatly influenced by users’ socio-economic and demographic backgrounds. But, it is hitherto unclear how this ride-service concept is influenced by the social and economic characteristics of the users from developing countries. Hence, this research attempts to unveil the inherent relationships between users’ usage of motorcycle and car ride-sourcing services and their socio-economic and demographic backgrounds. The sample size contains responses of 1003 respondents. Sixteen questions are asked indicating different socio-economic and demographic characteristics of the respondents towards their choice between motorbike and car ride-sourcing: two most popular ride-sourcing services in Bangladesh. A Bivariate-ordered Probit Model has been used to model jointly their choices towards ride-sourcing services. The outcomes indicate that people with certain types of socio-demographic background prefer to use motorcycles over cars for ride-sourcing and vice-versa. The result also shows that gender, household density, income, educational qualification, and smart-phone usage have a propensity to increase ride-sourcing choice towards both motorbikes and cars. The outcomes are expected to provide useful insights to the ride-sourcing service providers, transport agencies and policy makers of Bangladesh in understanding the choice behaviors from the ride-sourcing user perspectives.

Are Commercial Agent Banking Services Worthwhile For Financial Inclusion?

In recent times, commercial agent banking services have got considerable attention from academia and the banking industry for accelerating financial inclusion in emerging economies. However, it's incomprehensible to accelerate the economic progression through financial inclusion while ignoring a huge segment of the nonbank people from unprivileged areas. A very few studies have been conducted on the association between agent banking services and financial inclusion in emerging economies such as Bangladesh. The present study aims to investigate the impact of agent banking services provided by commercial banks on financial inclusion. To begin with the investigation, this study was based on agency theory considering the purposive sampling technique. This quantitative study was conducted on 19 commercial banks which are currently providing agent banking services in Bangladesh. An econometric model was proposed whereas the dependent construct has one specific dimension named as financial inclusion proxy by several accounts as a percentage of the adult population, in contrast, the independent construct had three dimensions named as-deposited amount, credited amount, and inward remittance of agent bank. In addition to that, this econometric model was based on secondary data whereas data analysis was conducted by considering panel data statistical method using GRETL (2019) software. This statistical analysis revealed that currently both the deposited amount and credited amount do have a significant impact on financial inclusion. It has also been inferred that using agent banking for in-warding remittance and new accounts open by clients have a positive significant relationship with financial inclusion. It is argued that agent banking services by comprising unbanked people in financial inclusion will ultimately prompt the opportunity for proper mobilization of resources and funds while maintaining safety and security. Further, it is also claimed that this study would assist to illustrate the present performance of agent banking services in financial inclusion from a multidimensional perspective which will contribute to providing some more innovative and sustainable products and services towards the unbanked people. Finally, this study recommends that commercial banks through agent banking should include a maximum number of nonbank populations into the financial inclusion by ensuring sustainable agent banking services which will accelerate the emerging economics Sustainable Development Goal (SDGs) performance.

Users Acceptance of Mobile Finance Service in Bangladesh and the impact of COVID-19: Extended UTAUT2

Population of Bangladesh is 164 million, but there are 165 million mobile phone subscribers. Mobile phone usage is one of the fastest growing phenomena of the country. Globally, among many mobile based services, Mobile Financing is one of the most rapidly expanding sector. Bangladesh is yet to see a significant growth in this arena. There have been numerous studies conducted on the types of Mobile Financing Services (MFS) and their reach in Bangladesh. But not too many studies were conducted on the factors that influences users to adopt MFS and their behavioral intension. Moreover, the recent crisis of COVID-19 pandemic seemed to have an impact on the usage of MFS which is also another unexplored research domain. This study analyzes the factors influencing MFS users of Bangladesh and also explores the impact of COVID-19 on the user’s behavioral intension. The Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) model in combination with Entrepreneurial Potential Model has been modified and adopted in this study. This study explores the correlation of Performance Expectancy (PE), Effort Expectancy (EE), Social Influence (SI), Facilitating Conditions (FC), Price Value (V) on Behavioral Intention (BI) on MFS users. It also studies the moderation effect of COVID-19 on the relationship between MFS users’ Behavioral Intension and Use Behavior. The correlating factors effect positively on the MFS users’ behavioral intention. But the COVID-19 impact was found ineffective in moderating their use behavior. The framework of this research is a novel one and can be adopted for similar studies.

Does gender inequality matter for access to and utilization of maternal healthcare services in Bangladesh?

There is a high prevalence of gender gap in Bangladesh which might affect women’s likelihood to receive maternal healthcare services. In this backdrop, we aim to investigate how gender inequality measured by intrahousehold bargaining power (or autonomy) of women and their attitudes towards intimate partner violence (IPV) affects accessing and utilizing maternal health care services. We used Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey (BDHS) data of 2014 covering 5460 women who gave birth at least one child in the last three years preceding the survey. We performed logistic regression to estimate the effect of women’s autonomy and their attitude towards IPV on access to and utilization of maternal healthcare services. Besides, we employed different channels to understand the heterogeneous effect of gender inequality on access to maternal healthcare services. We observed that women having autonomy positively influenced attaining five required antenatal care (ANC) services (AOR: 1.17; 95% CI: 0.98–1.41) and women’s negative attitudes towards IPV were positively associated with five ANC services (AOR: 1.42; 95% CI: 1.02–1.97), sufficient ANC visits (COR: 1.55; CI: 1.19–2.01), skilled birth attendant (SBA) (AOR: 1.43; 95% CI: 1.05–1.94) and postnatal care (PNC) services (AOR: 1.44; 95% CI: 1.12–1.84). Besides, rural residency, religion, household wealth, education of both women and husband were found to have some of the important channels which were making stronger effect of gender inequality on access to maternal healthcare services. The findings of our study indicate a significant association between access to maternal healthcare services and women’s autonomy as well as attitude towards IPV in Bangladesh. We, therefore, recommend to protect women from violence at home and mprove their intrahousehold bargaining power to increase their access to and utilization of required maternal healthcare services.

Weather Forecast Based Rice Advisory Services in Bangladesh

Strengthening the early warning system to forecast extreme weather and provide action-oriented advisories may increase rice yield as well as enhance the income of the farmers through minimizing risks and losses, if proper use of the generated advisory is ensured. This study assessed the importance and impact of weather forecast based advisory service (WFBAS) in Bangladesh. Literature review and field experimental data were used in a sensitivity analysis to show the impact of WFBAS on rice production. Available literatures suggested that the weather based advisory service would enhance rice yield by around 6.7-10%, but the experimental findings revealed that yield advantage could be 21.48%. Besides, the adoption of this technology would reduce the cost of cultivation by 12%, whereas the aggregate impact would increase the farmers’ profit by 25%. In the sensitivity study, we considered the production and price of Aman and Boro seasons (actual and government procured prices for 2018-19) and assumed only 6.70% yield increase with 5% farmers adopting of WFBAS. As such, additional 0.172 million tons will be added to the national rough rice production and thus the nation will be benefited by 3143 million Bangladeshi taka (BDT) at the actual farmgate price and it would be 4478 million BDT at the government procured price. The return on one BDT investment in this technology would be 51-73 BDT based on actual and procured prices. The projection showed enhenced production of the rough rice at 0.119 million tons and 0.214 million tons by 2025 and 2030, on which the additional return would be BDT 2441 and BDT 5223 million at the projected actual farmgate price and BDT 3522 and BDT 6979 million at the projected Government procured price, respectively. Hence, the successful implementation of the WFBAS will help to develop resilient rice farming communities, minimize livelihood risk, reduce the cost of production, utilize resources efficienty, and enable the farmers to take maximum benefit from favorable weather conditions through improved agricultural extension services. Finally, the enhanced yield and loss reduction will help to achieve the target of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) by 2030 through sustaining rice production in Bangladesh under changing climate. Bangladesh Rice J. 25 (1) : 51-74, 2021

Users' attitude and intention to use mobile financial services in Bangladesh: an empirical study

PurposeWhile the usage of mobile financial services (MFSs) is increasing rapidly in developing countries, research on users' attitudes and behavioral intention to adopt MFS is limited. Thus, this study aims to investigate customers' attitudes and intentions to adopt MFS from a Bangladeshi perspective.Design/methodology/approachA mixed research design was employed to conduct this study. Data of 196 respondents were analyzed using partial least squares (PLS) path modeling. For the quantitative part, data collection was conducted using non-probability sampling through a structured survey questionnaire. A focus group discussion with ten MFS users from divergent backgrounds was conducted to validate the quantitative findings.FindingsThis paper integrated both the technology acceptance model (TAM) and innovation resistance theory (IRT) to validate the results. The authors found that perceived usefulness (PU), perceived ease of use (PEOU) and perceived trust (PT) positively contribute to customers' attitudes toward MFS adoption. Besides, barriers to acceptance had unfavorable effects on users' attitudes and usage intentions. Furthermore, a focus group discussion revealed valuable insights on the constructs used in this study.Practical implicationsThe study results have implications for both MFS providers and researchers. The outputs and recommendations presented in this paper will encourage the MFS practitioners to stimulate users' attitudes and behavioral intentions by ensuring useful, easy to use, credible and risk-free mobile payment platforms.Originality/valueThis is one of the very few studies in Bangladesh that have taken a contemporary and emerging research topic, providing theoretical, methodological and practical contributions regarding the determinants and consequences of attitude toward using MFSs.

Strategies of Extension Service Providers To Meet the Information Needs of the Farmers

The role of Information Communication and Technology (ICT) is yet to be fully realized to receive its full potential benefits in agricultural information dissemination services. The present study is undertaken to enhance agricultural knowledge and minimize the information gaps between farmers’ needs and new technologies. It reviews recent ICT initiatives in agriculture and farmers access to agricultural information services in Bangladesh. The role of ICT on farmers enhanced agricultural production is also discussed in the paper. The current research proves that agriculture information is not only for libraries, research stations, and national and international agricultural database. Agriculture information services are to be provided by the Government, NGO, private organizations, agricultural research organizations, and advisory centers. The data were collected from questionnaire and interviews and they were coded, decoded, and interpreted in descriptive statistics through tables, graphs, and chart. The findings were arranged in separate sections with respective manners. This study contributes to the field of agricultural information dissemination systems of Bangladesh. It significantly elicits strong relationship between the use of ICT and farmers’ enhanced production led income. It was concluded with recommendations for the information providers, researchers, policy makers, and stakeholders for making extension services more effective. SAARC J. Agric., 19(1): 249-258 (2021)

Situation analysis of rehabilitation services for persons with disabilities in Bangladesh: identifying service gaps and scopes for improvement

Purpose Rehabilitation needs are rising globally; however, the rate is strikingly higher in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Like many LMICs, the situation of rehabilitation services for persons with disabilities (PwDs) in Bangladesh is mostly unknown. We assessed the current situation of rehabilitation services for PwDs in Bangladesh. Materials and methods This mixed-method study incorporated an online survey of rehabilitation service providers and a scoping review of documents published on rehabilitation services for PwDs in Bangladesh. Descriptive and thematic analyses were completed. Results A total of 1102 rehabilitation service providers were interviewed, and 36 documents were reviewed. Rehabilitation services for PwDs were found not integrated into the mainstream health services, financing mechanisms, information systems, and health policies in Bangladesh. There are 6.8 rehabilitation units for 1 million people, and 6.2% of them are located in rural areas. In terms of the rehabilitation workforce, there are 9.4 physiotherapists, 1.3 occupational therapists, 0.9 speech and language therapists, and 0.2 prosthetist and orthotists for 1 million people in Bangladesh. Majority (66.3%) of rehabilitation services require an out-of-pocket payment. Conclusions A critical shortage and uneven distribution of the rehabilitation workforce are evident, indicating a likelihood of very high unmet rehabilitation needs in Bangladesh. To strengthen the rehabilitation capacity of Bangladesh, rehabilitation services should be integrated into mainstream health policies and programs with a special focus on the rehabilitation workforce training, recruitment and distribution, and allocation of resources. Implications for rehabilitation Rehabilitation services in Bangladesh are mostly provided by the private sector, although the government of Bangladesh operates a small number of rehabilitation services outside of the mainstream public health service delivery system. Rehabilitation services are lacking in the primary and secondary health facilities, while services at tertiary level public hospitals are mainly provided by medical technologists in the absence of a qualified rehabilitation workforce. A severe shortage of rehabilitation workforce coupled with an uneven distribution of the existing limited number of rehabilitation services and out-of-pocket expenditures might result in inadequate access and poor rehabilitation service uptake amongst persons with disabilities (PwDs) in Bangladesh. Robust governance and leadership are needed to monitor the implementation of existing legislations and policies and develop strategies to improve the situation of rehabilitation services for PwDs in Bangladesh.

Paediatric COVID-19: Review of Hospital Experiences and Impact on Child Health Services in Bangladesh

Previous studies suggested that COVID-19 is more likely to infect older adults, particularly those with chronic comorbidities. However in Bangladesh, paediatric patients are on the rise. Three percent of children less than 10 years were identified as having COVID-19 infection. Though over 90% of the cases were mild or moderate in nature but many of them required hospital admission. So it appeared that local situation in Bangladesh seems to be different. This study was carried out to find out hospital experiences and impact of COVID-19 in child health in Bangladesh. Data were collected from three tertiary care hospitals of Bangladesh dealing majority of COVID-19 infected children. The hospitals were Dhaka Shishu (Children) Hospital, Dhaka Medical College Hospital and Mugda Medical College Hospital. As COVID-19 outbreak also adversely affecting different services among the children of Bangladesh, review was done to evaluate essential health delivery services especially routine immunization. Total 422 children were included from three tertiary care hospitals. They were predominantly male. Children of all age groups were infected. Significant numbers of children were admitted with moderate to severe illness (moderate 42.89%, severe 35.78% and critical 16.11%) with some casualties (mortality 4.27%). Routine immunization has already been hampered and threatened a significant increase in child mortality due to Vaccine Preventable Disease (VPD) in coming days. Paediatric patients were on the rise and unfortunately we noticed large number of hospital admission and some casualties already. Essential health care services should be preserved to prevent avoidable losses of child lives during the COVID-19 pandemic and to protect progress in reducing child mortality achieved over recent years.