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Bangladesh, with a population of 151 million people, is a country that is particularly prone to natural disasters: 26% of the population are affected by cyclones and 70% live in flood-prone regions. Mortality and morbidity from these events have fallen substantially in the past 50 years, partly because of improvements in disaster management. Thousands of… Read more
By disaggregating gains in child health in Bangladesh over the past several decades, significant improvements in gender and socioeconomic inequities have been revealed. With the use of a social determinants of health approach, key features of the country’s development experience can be identified that help explain its unexpected health trajectory. The systematic equity orientation of… Read more
In Bangladesh, rapid advancements in coverage of many health interventions have coincided with impressive reductions in fertility and rates of maternal, infant, and childhood mortality. These advances, which have taken place despite such challenges as widespread poverty, political instability, and frequent natural disasters, warrant careful analysis of Bangladesh’s approach to health-service delivery in the past… Read more
How do we explain the paradox that Bangladesh has made remarkable progress in health and human development, yet its achievements have taken place within a health system that is frequently characterised as weak, in terms of inadequate physical and human infrastructure and logistics, and low performing? We argue that the development of a highly pluralistic… Read more
Bangladesh, the eighth most populous country in the world with about 153 million people, has recently been applauded as an exceptional health performer. In the first paper in this Series, we present evidence to show that Bangladesh has achieved substantial health advances, but the country’s success cannot be captured simplistically because health in Bangladesh has… Read more
Last week I was lucky enough to attend the UK launch of the Lancet Special Issue on Bangladesh, Innovation for Universal Health Coverage. The event was chaired by Hilary Standing, who sits on the REACHOUT Expert Review Group. Bangladesh is a fascinating case study for this type of review because, in terms of many health… Read more
The study explores the determinants of domestic violence in two rural areas of Bangladesh. We found increased education, higher socioeconomic status, non-Muslim religion, and extended family residence to be associated with lower risks of violence. The effects of women’s status on violence were found to be highly context-specific. In the more culturally conservative area, higher… Read more
The World Inequality Database on Education (WIDE), developed by the Education for All Global Monitoring Report, draws attention to unacceptable levels of education inequality across countries and between groups within countries, with the aim informing policy design and public debate. This booklet looks at the impact that gender, wealth and where a child or young… Read more
Despite the fact that there is enough food for everyone, almost 870 million people go hungry every night. 2.3 million children die needlessly because of malnutrition each year and 165 million more have their future potential permanently damaged because they don’t receive the right nutrients at the start of life. This is a human tragedy,… Read more
This paper reports on the findings from studies in Bangladesh, Bolivia, Guatemala, Peru and Vietnam which sought to identify the challenges in the policy process and ways to overcome them, notably with respect to commitment, agenda setting, policy formulation and implementation. The key findings were as follows: • Strengthening the full spectrum of policy activities… Read more