Chronic diseases hitting poorest households hard
The number of people in Bangladesh dying from chronic diseases such as cancer, diabetes and hypertension—long considered diseases of the wealthy because the poor didn’t tend to live long enough to develop them—increased dramatically among the nation’s poorest households over a 24-year period, suggests new research from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
The study, published Oct. 13 in the International Journal of Epidemiology, found that the rate of people dying from chronic conditions between 1982 and 2005 fell amon
Policy to end child marriage must in Bangladesh
Fifteen months after pledging to end child marriage in her country, Bangladesh’s prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, seems determined to lower the age of marriage in Bangladesh.
In July 2015, at the Girl Summit in London, United Kingdom, Sheikh Hasina announced plans to end child marriage under 15 in Bangladesh by 2021, and to end child marriage under 18 by 2041. These commitments were very welcome given the high rate of child marriage in Bangladesh: 29 percent of girls are married by age 15, the highest rate in the world. By age 18, when they should be graduating from high school, 65 percent of girls are married. A horrifying 
Bangladesh’s teenage surf girls
They lead double lives. Born into poverty in the Bangladeshi district of Cox’s Bazar, Johanara, Aisha, Shumi, Rifa, Suma, Shobe Majaraz, Mayasha and Nargis wake up early each morning to go to work hawking snacks and handcrafted jewelry on their local beach down in the southern reaches of the country, along the Bay of Bengal. They work late into the night, earning as much as they can to support their families.
Shumi, 11, is the only one among this group of eight friends ranging from 10 to 13 who goes to school. She wishes to become a doctor when she grows up. But the odds are stacked against her in what, despite making significant strides in recent years to improve the position of its women
[caption id="attachment_20388" align="alignleft" width="468"]
NEC approves new five-year development plan
The highest economic policy-making body of Bangladesh Tuesday approved a new five-year plan with the theme “Accelerating Growth, Empowering Citizens”.
Bangladesh’s 7th five-year plan was approved at a meeting of the country’s National Economic Council with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair on Tuesday here in the capital of Dhaka, Xinhua reported.
Bangladesh’s Planning Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal told journalists after the meeting that the new plan, which starts in the 2015-16 fiscal year (July 2015-June 2016) and ends in 2019-20 (July ...
Bangladesh’s Planning Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal told journalists after the meeting that the new plan, which starts in the 2015-16 fiscal year (July 2015-June 2016) and ends in 2019-20 (July ...
15 techno parks by 2021
Bangladesh is setting up four technology parks to promote IT export and business process outsourcing (BPO) business and hopes to attract investment from the Middle East market.
Rafique Ahammed, Commercial Counsellor at Consulate General of Bangladesh, told Gulf News that the plan is to have 15 techno parks by 2021 and seeks $1 billion (Dh3.67 billion) export earnings within the next three years.
He said the South Asian country offers a huge potential for ICT (information and communications technology) sector as it gears up the digital transformation with ‘Digital 
Grim but essential, autopsies are saving lives in BD
Something went terribly wrong when Asta Banu gave birth. Her labour was difficult and seemed to take forever. When the baby – a boy – was finally born, he was unresponsive. Although Ms. Banu’s family quickly arranged transportation to the Thakurgaon District Hospital, their efforts were in vain. During the 20 km drive, the baby slipped into a coma and died.
Tragically, Ms. Banu’s story is a common one.
In Bangladesh, 21 newborns die out of every 1,000 live births, according to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). It is more than twice the neonatal mortality rate in the Asia and Pacific Region.
