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WHO to Launch a New Maternal
Health Initiative
The World Health
Organization (WHO),
Bangladesh Country Office,
will hold a joint launching
of a new landmark initiative
titled: “Strengthening
National Menstrual
Regulation Programme for
Reduction of Maternal
Mortality and Morbidity in
Bangladesh”. Other partners
on this new initiative are:
the Embassy of the Kingdom
of the Netherlands
in Bangladesh, and the
Office of the Director
General of Family Planning.
This initiative is being
supported by the Government
of the Netherlands.
The launching event
will take place on the 23rd
of June and it is expected
that the Secretary, Ministry
of Health & Family welfare,
Mr AKM Zafar Ullah Khan,
will officially launch the
initiative. The DGFP and the
DG-Health Services are
expected to address the
event, in addition to the
WHO Representative in
Bangladesh, and the Head of
Development Cooperation of
the Royal Netherlands
Embassy.
Call for Proposals:
The WHO is calling for
proposals for improving
menstrual regulation and
related reproductive health
services, management and
research to address the
issue of reduction of
maternal mortality in
Bangladesh. Proposals that
demonstrate innovative
approaches and build on
public-private partnership
will be given a priority.
Participation on the
launching ceremony is by
invitation only. However,
interested organizations and
individuals are invited to
attend an information
session on the new
initiative, following the
launching ceremony. The
venue is the Marble Room of
the Dhaka Sheraton Hotel, 1
Minto Road, on Monday, 23
June 2008. Those interested
in attending the information
session may kindly lodge
their interest through email
at
registryban@searo.who.int
or leave a message at the
Reception Desk of the WHO,
tel.: (880-2) 861 4653-5,
861 6097-98.
World Health Day
2008: “Protecting
Health from Climate
Change”
 Four
Bangladesh Nursing
Colleges observed
World Health Day
2008 with Scientific
Seminars to present
the theme,
Protecting Health
from Climate Change,
with their fellow
faculty and
students. WHO Nurse
Officers were
invited to attend
the seminars and
give key note
speeches. The UNFPA
International
Project Officer for
Reproductive Health
also joined the
seminar in Dhaka.
Important issues
were raised by the
presenters and
students, including
causes of climate
change, greenhouse
gasses, weather
patterns, and
natural disasters
related to climate
change. Climate
sensitive diseases
were also reviewed
and explained by the
panelists
More...
World Day for Safety
and Health at Work
28 April 2008:
A
special national
seminar to observe
the World Day for
Safety and Health at
Work was held at the
national Press Club
VIP Lounge in Dhaka
today. The aim is
to raise awareness
of the importance of
safe, healthy and
decent work. This
year’s theme is
“Managing risks in
the work
environment”, and it
is an area of public
health that WHO is
giving increasing
attention to through
its support to the
member states. The
International Labour
Organisation
estimates that each
year in Bangladesh
11,700 workers
suffer fatal
accidents, and a
further 24,500 die
from work-related
diseases. It also
estimates that a
further 8 million
workers suffer
injuries at work –
many of which result
in permanent
disability.
More...
Long Lasting
Insecticide-treated
Nets (LLINs)
distributed in
Rangamati
A formal programme
of distribution of
Long Lasting
Insecticide-treated
Bed Nets (LLINs)
took place in
Rangamati on 03
January 2008.
Rangamati is a hill
district where
malaria is
prevalent. The
inaugural function
was held in the
Rangamati Hill
District Council
Auditorium. Mr.
Joytirindra Bodhipriyo
Larma (Santhu Larma),
Chairman, Regional
Hill Council; Mr.
Jagat Jyoti Chakma,
Chairman, Rangamati
Hill District
Council, and Dr
Duangvadee
Sungkhobol, WHO
Representative to
Bangladesh, attended
the function as
guests of honour.
The former Adviser
to the Caretaker
Government for
Health launched the
distribution
programme. Officials
from the government,
NGOs including BRAC,
and several local
leaders, mediamen,
and senior civil
society
representatives were
present in the
inaugural function.
The use of
insecticide- treated
bed nets for
protection from
mosquito bites and
reducing malaria
transmission is an
effective way to
control malaria. A
total of 1.6 million
Long Lasting
Insecticidal Nets (LLINs)
will be distributed
to vulnerable
families in 13 high-
malaria-endemic
districts of
Bangladesh with
support of the
Global Fund Grant (GFATM
Round-6). In
addition, early
diagnosis by
microscopy and Rapid
Diagnostic Tests (RDT)
and treatment by
Artemisinine-based
Combination Therapy
(ACT-Coartem) will
be provided to
achieve 50%
reduction of malaria
morbidity and
mortality by 2012.
The World Health
Organization (WHO
Bangladesh Country
Office) is
providing technical
support to the GFATM
malaria project,
being currently
implemented by the
Bangladesh
Government through
assistance from an
NGO Consortium (a
group pf 14 NGOs led
by BRAC, a leading
national NGO).
The WHO Regional
Director pledged
support for health
development
in Banglades
Joint Launching of
WHO Country
Cooperation Strategy
2008–2013,
Bangladesh held in
Dhaka
Dhaka, 2 November
2007---The World
Health
Organization’s
Regional Director
for South East Asia,
Dr Samlee
Plianbangchang
pledged the WHO
support for health
development in
Bangladesh .
Dr Samlee
Plianbangchang,
 Regional
Director, WHO
South-East Asia
Region,
Major-General (Rtd.)
Dr. ASM Matiur
Rahman, Adviser for
Health & Family
Welfare, and Mr
Anwarul Iqbal,
Adviser for Local
Government, Rural
Development &
Cooperatives jointly
launched the WHO
Country Cooperation
Strategy (CCS)
2008-2013 for
Bangladesh yesterday
1 November at Hotel
Sonargaon, Dhaka.
More...
Three UN agencies
signed MOU of $31
million donation to
reduce maternal and
neonatal deaths in
Bangladesh
 Dhaka,
7th June,
2007:
The health and well
being of mothers and
newborns has
received a
significant boost
with the Government
of Bangladesh taking
the lead UN joint
initiative has been
developed through
the collaborative
efforts of three
agencies, United
Nations Population
Fund (UNFPA), the
United Nations
Children's Fund
(UNICEF) and the
World Health
Organization (WHO)
with financial
supports from the
Department for
International
Development (DFID),
UK and the European
Commission(EC)
worth $31.2 million.
The funding will
support Bangladesh
Government’s
“Accelerating
Progress towards
Maternal and
Neonatal Mortality
and Morbidity
Reduction”
project, which will
be jointly
implemented by the
Government, UNFPA,
UNICEF and WHO.
More...
World No Tobacco Day
Observed in
Bangladesh
National Tobacco
Control Cell
established under
the Ministry of
Health & Family
Welfare with the
support of WHO
1 June 2007, Dhaka
--
The “World No
Tobacco Day” was
observed all over
Bangladesh, as
elsewhere in the
world, on May 31,
2007. This year’s
theme for the Day
was "Smoke-free
inside: Create and
enjoy 100%
smoke-free
environments". The
purpose of the Day
was to focus on the
dangers of using
tobacco, the
business practices
of tobacco
companies, what WHO
is doing to fight
the tobacco
epidemic, and what
people around the
world can do to
protect the right to
health and healthy
living for
themselves and for
future generations.
More...
International Health
Regulations enter into force
WHO adopts new regulations
to prevent spread of
infectious diseases
Dhaka, 15 June 2007:
The International
Health Regulations (IHR
2005) come into force,
within the two years target
set by the 58th
World Health Assembly that
met in Geneva in May 2005.
These regulations are
relevant to keep pace with
the changing health scenario
of global health security.
They are a contemporary,
updated version of the
International Health
Regulations (IHR1969) which
will afford maximum security
against the international
spread of diseases and
public health events while
ensuring minimum
interference with
international travel and
trade.
More...
World Blood Donor
Day Observed in
Bangladesh
National Policy
on safe blood
transfusion has been
adopted by the
Ministry of Health &
Family Welfare with
the support of WHO
15 June 2007, Dhaka
-- The “the World
Blood Donor Day
2007”
 was observed
all over Bangladesh,
as elsewhere in the
world, on June 14,
2007. On 58th World
Health Assembly it
was declared that
World Blood Donor
day should be
celebrated on 14
June each year in
honor of scientist
Karl Lanstainer’s
birthday who
discovered ABO blood
grouping system in
human being.
More...
Second Stakeholders’
Consultation on the
WHO CCS
2008-13
A second
“Stakeholders’
Consultation on the
WHO- Bangladesh
Country
 Cooperation
Strategy (CCS),
2008–2013” took
place on the 17th of
April 2007 in Dhaka.
This event was the
follow-up to the
first stakeholders’
consultation that
WHO organized in
December 2006 to
obtain views on
future priorities
for improved
engagement of WHO in
Bangladesh. Taking
into account the
recommendations from
the December 2006
Stakeholders’
consultation, the
first draft of the
CCS documents was
prepared and
circulated to the
participants. The
draft CCS was
carefully reviewed
during the second
Consultation.
More...
Consultative Meeting on
Women’s Health and Domestic
Violence against Women held
in Dhaka
Following the
recent launch of the WHO
Multi-country Study on
Women’s Health and Domestic
Violence against Women,
Bangladesh has embarked on
multi-sectoral dialogue and
consultations to strengthen
efforts in addressing this
subject in Bangladesh.The
meeting conducted by the
Bangladesh Centre for
Communication Programs with
the support of WHO was held
at ICDDR,B on 30 November
2006.
More...
First round of the
14th National Immunization Day Observed
I n an effort to eradicate the
re-emergence of polio, Bangladesh has observed the
first round of the 14th National Immunization Day (NID)
on Saturday, 25th November 2006. This is a new drive
to immunize 24 million children under the age of
five. The second round of the NIDs will be conducted
on December 23rd 2006.
Since the detection of the
poliovirus in March this year, after an absence of
about 5 years, there has been four polio NIDs which
took place on April 16th, May 13th, June 11th and
August 6th. It is estimated that the first four
rounds covered between 95 to 97 per cent of
under-five children in the country.
The Government of Bangladesh,
with support from UNICEF, WHO, Rotary International
and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC, Atlanta, USA) decided to immunize all children
under the age of five across the country when the
first re-emergent case of polio was detected earlier
in the year.
The Advisor to the Ministry of
Health and Family Welfare of the Bangladesh
Government, Professor Sufia Rahman, inaugurated
the 1st round of the 14th National Immunization
Day by administering polio vaccines to a number of
children at a ceremony held at the EPI Building of
the Bangladesh Health Services office in Dhaka,
Bangladesh, on Friday, November 24th 2006.
Speaking on the occasion, she
hoped that, during the current round, 100 per cent
children of the target group will be reached through
the combined effort.
With the Director General of
Health Services, Dr Shahjahan Biswas, in the chair,
the inaugural function was addressed by a joint
secretary of the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare
(MOHFW), Mr. Shafiqul Islam, the DG of Family
Planning, Mr. Abdul Mannan, Chairman of Rotary’s
Polio-Plus Committee, Mr. Iftekharul Alam, the
UNICEF Representative to Bangladesh, Mr.
Louis-Georges Arsenault, and WHO Representative to
Bangladesh, Dr. Duangvadee Sungkhobol.
“The decision of the Government
of Bangladesh to conduct the two additional rounds
of NIDs came in response to the new cases of
importation of the polio virus, in keeping with a
standing WHO guideline on polio eradication. To
control the transmission of polio virus, it is
necessary to reach all children including those in
hard-to-reach areas and those who frequently travel
long distances. The Government’s initiative to
strengthen the existing surveillance system and
prompt action regarding quick rounds of vaccination
will play a vital role in containing transmission of
the virus. We are optimistic that we will be able to
make Bangladesh polio-free once again, through our
combined effort and be able to reach the un-reached
children this time”, said Dr Duangvadee Sungkhobol,
WHO Representative to Bangladesh.
The first round of the 14th NID
is particularly important as it combines polio
vaccines with Vitamin A capsules for children aged
between 1 and 5 years, and de-worming tablets for
children aged between 2 and 5. Vitamin A
supplementation provides a cost-effective way to
protect children against Vitamin A deficiency that
can cause serious health and growth hazards, and
could increase vulnerability to several other
diseases.
In order to ensure total
elimination of polio, the government will also hold
4 rounds of NIDs in 2007 and continue 2 rounds of
NIDs every year from 2008, until bordering India,
where polio cases are often encountered, turns
polio-free.
The Global Polio Eradication
Initiative (GPEI) works with governments around the
world to reduce the incidence of polio and is
spearheaded by WHO, Rotary International, the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and
UNICEF. The GPEI has helped reduce the incidence of
polio by more than 99 per cent since its launch in
1988, from 350,000 annual cases to only 1526 cases
in 2006. |
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WHO SEA Region
Health Ministers Adopt the “Dhaka Declaration”
 The
Health Ministers of the WHO South-East Asia region,
participating in the 24th Health
Ministers Meeting at Dhaka, Bangladesh, adopted the
“Dhaka Declaration” which calls for concerted and
joint efforts to develop national policies and
regulations that would enhance the availability of
trained manpower in service delivery settings, with
an emphasis on pro-poor health interventions. The
Declaration has particularly emphasized the need for
immediate measures to start the implementation of
medium and long-term national plans for Human
Resources for Health (HRH). The Ministers reiterated
their commitment to the WHO World Health Assembly
Resolutions related to HRH, particularly the
strengthening of public health workforce in each
SEAR country. The principal thrust of this
Declaration was on development on training,
education and research of health care personnel --
with a renewed call to garner more resources for
better health planning and capacity building of
health care workforce in the Member States of the
WHO SEA Region.
Human resources for health are
absolutely essential for operating the health
service system in any country. They save valuable
lives. These providers support the health care
delivery system and make them work, standing at the
core of the system. They promote health, prevent
illness, provide curative and diagnostic support,
and foster the strengthening of rehabilitation
programmes.
The Regional
Committee (RC) Meeting: The 59th RC
Meeting, held in Dhaka, Bangladesh, in August 2006,
deliberated at length on the issue of HRH. This
session was titled: Strengthening public health
workforce in SEAR countries and Regional strategic
plan for human resource development. The Regional
Committee was mindful of the fact that effective and
efficient management of existing human resources for
health is one of the most precious and important
resources of the health system which would lead to
effective programme delivery and significant
improvements in the performance of the health
system. It also noted with concern the unacceptable
shortages, and imbalances of skill-mix.
The
Committee urged Member States to establish planning
teams to develop multi-sectoral health workforce
plans as committed in the Dhaka Declaration.
It urged members to develop and implement national
strategies taking into account the full range of
health workers, community health workers and migrant
health workers. It urged countries to invest in the
development of human resources; to strengthen
capacity of training institutions with a focus on
public health orientation and nursing and midwifery
and to revitalize the role of community health
workers.
It asked WHO to develop a package of interventions
and tools; to provide technical support to Member
States; to strengthen training capacity; to support
exiting regional partnerships and networks such as
Asia Pacific Action Alliance on Human resource for
health and to facilitate further collaboration
between schools of public health and health
workforce training institutions in the Region. |
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Bangladesh Prepares a National Policy on Health
Emergency Management
 Bangladesh
has faced several major natural disasters and is
prone to cyclones, flooding, tidal-waves, and even
earthquakes. Such calamities give rise to serious
health problems and have always been accompanied by
a rapid increase in the number of cases of
water-borne diseases ands other infectious
illnesses. Given such a scenario, the Bangladesh
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoH), in
collaboration with WHO-Bangladesh, has prepared a
“National Policy on Health Emergency Management” and
“Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) for health
emergency management”. The purpose of the Policy is
to define what needs to be done to cope with the
adverse public health consequences of natural
disasters and emergencies, in the context of
Bangladesh. This Policy is being implemented at the
ground, operational level through adoption of the
SOPs that have been recently developed.
The National Policy covers the
following aspects:
-
 Administration and
Coordination: defines which Departments and
Ministries shall work together, to help minimize
lead-time and avoid work duplication. It will
help to utilize medical resources better.
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Information Management:
defines the need for the establishment of a
one-stop information storage, retrieval and
dissemination centre for health information, as
they relate to particular natural disasters.
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Public Health Surveillance:
the Policy has helped set up an early-warning
system for epidemic-prone diseases and
strengthen the epidemic response capacity.
Medical intelligence will stand strengthened
through systematic, round-the-year surveillance
and information collection.
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Stocking and Management of
emergency medical supplies: Improving and
modernizing drug and supplies’ inventory control
mechanism, for quick deployment during
emergencies.
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Hospital Services: Develop a
protocol-based procedure for mass casualty
management in the event of mass casualties and
accidents.
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Human Resources: develop
professional capability of emergency-support
medical staff, and prepare a roster of staff for
prompt deployment during emergencies.
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Public awareness: develop
flyers and newsletters and media material for
quick dissemination on: how to treat cases and
how to prevent outbreaks of diseases, how to
purify water, how to contain infectious
diseases, and dissemination of data on
particular diseases, etiology of diseases,
methods of case-management, correct drug
administration and doses, among others.
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Monitoring and evaluation: support the
successful implementation of the National
Policy through establishing proper mechanisms
for regular monitoring and evaluation of
performance and impact, to enable health care
personnel to further improve strategies and
case-management.
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The SOP: the SOP covers
aspects such as methods of emergency health
response. It intends to standardize emergency
health relief operations in line with best
humanitarian practice. The SOP has nine topics
for management of health related aspects of
disasters and calamities, including reproductive
health, logistics and movement, food and
nutrition, incident management, water and
sanitation during emergency, communicable
disease control procedures, temporary medical
camps and clinics, and temporary storage of
drugs and vaccines, among others.
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World No Tobacco Day
Observed in Bangladesh
The “World No Tobacco Day” was observed all over
Bangladesh, as elsewhere in the world, on May 31,
2006. This year’s theme for the Day was “Tobacco:
deadly in any form or disguise”. The purpose of the
Day was to encourage countries and Governments to
work towards containment of all forms of tobacco
consumption by raising awareness about the existence
of a wide variety of deadly tobacco products in the
market, being sold as “health-friendly” and mild
varieties.
Several colourful rallies and awareness meetings
took place on the day; the main one had the
Bangladesh Minister for Health and Family Welfare as
the chief guest.
Other events included a round-table discussion, an
anti-tobacco musical concert, folk song rallies,
advocacy meetings, declaration of smoke-free places,
removal of tobacco advertisements, among others.
Similar events took place all over the country. The
media had special coverage of these events while
many TV channels and the radio put out special
programmes to mark the World No Tobacco Day 2006.
The theme of this year’s World No Tobacco Day
underlies the fact that the tobacco industry is
continuing unabated its vigorous sales thrust,
through the advent of a new line of tobacco
products, camouflaging consumers with the claim that
these products are safer and healthier options than
the common cigarettes. They are currently being
promoted under health-friendly names or flavours.
Some examples are the promotional campaigns for
certain new varieties of cigarettes, being
introduced to the market as ‘light’, ‘mild’ and ‘low
tar” varieties, among others. Recent research has
shown that all these new forms or “disguised
products” are equally harmful to human health.
Tobacco manufacturers, however, are disregarding
these well-documented research findings, and are
continuing to challenge and misrepresent the
scientific basis of this information.
Tobacco is the second-highest leading risk factor
for global deaths. Currently it causes 5 million
deaths worldwide. One in ten adults dies from health
conditions caused by tobacco consumption worldwide.
If current smoking patterns continue unabated then
it is possible that some 10 million deaths may occur
each year by the year 2020. Most of these deaths
occur in developing countries like Bangladesh. A
study carried by out by WHO in 2004-05 revealed that
tobacco is causing about 57 thousand deaths annually
among Bangladeshi people aged 30 years or above as a
result of active smoking. This figure would be much
higher when effects of passive smoking are taken
into account. A large proportion of those deaths
could be prevented or averted with effective sales
control of tobacco products of all types.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has supported
the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MOHFW) of
the Bangladesh Government in its effort to contain
smoking, both active and passive. WHO-commissioned
studies, carried out in many parts of the world,
including Bangladesh, have shown that smoking causes
tremendous damage to health and the burden of
disease from tobacco-induced illnesses is higher, in
economic terms, than the benefits derived from the
tobacco industry - in terms of employment
generation, tax revenue and export earnings. 
Bangladesh, as a member of the WHO, has actively
participated in WHO’s worldwide endeavour to enact
new laws to contain the sale and consumption of
tobacco products. On March 13, 2005, a new law was
enacted – “the Smoking and Tobacco Usage Control
Act, 2005” of Bangladesh which bans advertising of
tobacco products in newspapers and the electronic
media as well as in cinema halls throughout the
country. The new law bans smoking in public places
and on public transportation systems. Offenders are
punishable through a monetary penalty. The Ministry
of Health Family Welfare has already developed a
national plan of action for tobacco control with
assistance from WHO. Tobacco control - within the
purview of non-communicable disease control policy
and plan of action - has also been developed.
It is important that more research be carried out
and their findings be disseminated widely in order
to create awareness and furnish scientific knowledge
to the people, to concerned organisations and policy
makers about the ill-effects of these products,
their forms and disguises, and the effect of all
forms of tobacco, with the broad aim of preparing
and implementing more effective tobacco control
programmes in the country.
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World Health Day
2007
World Health Day
marks the founding
of the World Health
Organization (WHO).
It is an occasion to
raise awareness of
key global health
issues. This year's
theme is
international health
security. The aim is
to urge governments,
organizations and
businesses to
"Invest in health,
build a safer
future".
Emerging and
epidemic-prone
diseases and
outbreaks, such as
SARS and avian flu,
as well as the
continuing spread of
HIV/AIDS,
humanitarian
emergencies, and
other acute health
threats can all be
defined as public
health emergencies.
International health
security is the
first line of
defence against
health shocks that
can |
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Date:
7 April 2007
Place:
Celebrated worldwide
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Theme: International
Health
Security |
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Slogan:
Invest
in health,
build
a safer future |
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devastate people,
societies and
economies worldwide.
Implementation of
the International
Health Regulations (IHR)
from June 2007 will
help to build and
strengthen
mechanisms for
outbreak alert and
response at national
and international
levels, and
contribute to making
the world more
secure.
More... |
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