covid19 – Ubinig

4. Pandemic and Public Health Challenges of Bangladesh

3Jun

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4. Pandemic and Public Health Challenges of Bangladesh

UBINIG “But tell me, your physician in the precise sense of whom you were just speaking, is he a moneymaker, an earner of fees or a healer of the sick? Andremember to speak of the physician who really is such…” – Plato (Republic 341C) “You cannot fight a fire blindfolded” - WHO Director General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus at a press briefing on 16 March, 2020 INTRODUCTION Cherished ideas disappear fast, so is the Alma Ata Declaration, the visionary approach to Primary Health Care (PHC) endorsed by World Health Organization in 1978. The significance of Alma Ata Declaration lies in its comprehensiveness, setting health within the broader context of socio-economic, cultural and political conditions and realties. Health is not merely a medical condition, but outcome of ...

2. Covid-19: BANGLADESH: Brinjal story: Local varieties exist, not GMOs

15May

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COVID-19: UBINIG Report Series

2. Covid-19: BANGLADESH: Brinjal story: Local varieties exist, not GMOs

UBINIG In the month of Ramadan (fasting by the Muslim communities for a month), the demand for brinjal/eggplant/aubergine is the highest as it is one of the most popular item, the Beguni, for Iftar time (breaking of the fast in the evening). Chola (black gram) Peyaju (fried lentil mixed with onions) and Beguni (fried eggplant mixed with beson, the gram powder). Health professionals do not recommend these fried items for empty stomachs after a whole day of fasting. However, from the rich to the poor, Iftar is incomplete without chola-peyaju-beguni on the plate. This Ramadan, starting on 25th April, is different from all other years. The country is going through an undeclared “Lockdown” amid COVID-19 pandemic. The first COVID-19 infection detection was on 8th March with 3 cases, ...

9May

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COVID-19: UBINIG Report Series

1. Covid-19 Bangladesh: UBINIG REPORT SERIES 1: Farming community & Agriculture

UBINIG A gradual reduction in the contribution of agriculture sector to the GDP has been visible since 1990, when agriculture contributed 38% of the national GDP, in 2018 it stooped to a meager 13.7%. This is due to continuous lack of attention and proper planning by the government, which often takes decisions that proves to be detrimental for the greater interest of agriculture as a sector and those of farmers as productive population. Bangladesh is a country of small farm holdings (less than 3 acres), constituting 84% of total farming households; medium farms 14% and large farms (over 7.50 acres) are only 9% (GOB, 2015). Despite its decreasing importance in the GDP, agriculture provides over 40% of employment. Bangladesh Government first announced detection of COVID-19 infecti...

COVID-19 and perspectives of the marginalised

19Apr

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COVID-19: UBINIG Report Series

COVID-19 and perspectives of the marginalised

Farida Akhter THE COVID-19 pandemic has affected lives of people disproportionately, particularly the women, the marginalised and people who remain ‘excluded’ for various reasons. The majority of people have no access to internet and no time to listen to the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research daily updates on COVID-19 on how many people are infected or died from the disease. Characterising the genetic construction of COVID-19 does not necessarily mean that scientists already know how this strange and invisible virus could be behaving as a pathogen. Nevertheless, the COVID-19 pandemic has already started affecting lives of people in horrific ways. People’s lives are disrupted not only by social distancing and lockdowns, but by the fear of losing jobs, liveliho...