Md. Zakiul Alam

The state in Bangladesh has instituted a series of policies and practices during the COVID-19 pandemic that reflects structural stigma Stigma is now considered a complex phenomenon rather than just one set of beliefs Thus, the level and correlates of stigma toward individuals and households that have become positive with the Coronavirus are of critical interest and importance This article describes the nature of the Bangladesh government's unusual labeling practices as a structural stigma and examines the stigma levels among Bangladeshi adults A web-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 1,056 adult respondents We used 10 Likert items (alpha = 0 630) to measure the level of stigmatized attitudes related to COVID-19 The data were analyzed using t-tests, ANOVA, and correlation coefficients to identify the factors associated with the dependent variable at the bivariate level The multiple linear regression model was also fitted The findings of the study show that 90 8% of the respondents had at least one stigmatized attitude The regression analysis result shows that marital status, educational attainment, place of residence, risk perception, and attitudes toward COVID-19 were the most significant factors of stigmatized attitudes among the population in Bangladesh This study suggests that state-sponsored labeling of COVID-19 positive people should be stopped immediately, and the privacy and confidentiality of the COVID-19 positive people should be appropriately maintained Health education programs should also be adopted for all age groups to decrease negative attitudes toward this disease by increasing their knowledge and awareness for preventing COVID-19 (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved)

Background Vaccines are effective and reliable public health interventions against viral outbreaks and pandemics. However, hesitancy regarding the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine is evident worldwide. Therefore, understanding vaccination-related behavior is critical in expanding the vaccine coverage to flatten the infection curve. This study explores the public perception regarding COVID-19 vaccination and identifies factors associated with vaccine hesitancy among the general adult populations in six Southeast Asian countries. Methods Using a snowball sampling approach, we conducted a descriptive cross-sectional study among 5260 participants in Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam between February and May 2021. Binary logistic regression analysis with a backward conditional approach was applied to identify factors associated with COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy. Results Of the total, 50.6% were female, and the median age was 30 years (range: 15–83 years...

Introduction:Adolescence is a critical period characterized by significant physical, emotional, cognitive and social changes, and monthly occurrence of menstruation of adolescent girls. Despite being an inevitable natural event, most of the societies consider menstruation and menstrual blood as taboo and impure that prevents many adolescent girls from proper education and information which force them to develop their ways of managing the event. In this study, we attempted to explore the pattern of menstrual hygiene management practice, the urban-rural differences of the practice, and the determinants of the practice among adolescent girls in Rajshahi division, Bangladesh.Methodology:Using a cross-sectional study design with systematic random sampling, we collected data from 589 adolescent girls (aged 14–19 years) from Rajshahi division of Bangladesh. We employed bivariate and multinomial logistic regression analysis.Findings:We found significant differences in menstrual hygiene mana...

Bangladesh is one of the most densely populated countries in the world struggling to prevent COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019). This study employed correlation, cluster analysis, and multiple linear regression analyses using district-wise COVID-19 infection and socioeconomic data. It is observed that there is a strong positive correlation ( r = 0.876, P < .001) between population density and COVID-19, explaining a 60% variation in Bangladesh. The relationship between urbanization and COVID-19 is also positively strong ( r = 0.802, P < .001). Urban settlements have a higher risk of spreading diseases due to the enormous population density. For future planning to prevent COVID-19 and other related infectious diseases, population density should be considered a risk factor.

This study assessed the preparedness regarding the preventive practices toward the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) among the adult population in Bangladesh. Data were collected through an online survey with a sample size of 1,056. We constructed four variables (individual, household, economic, and community and social distancing) related to preparedness based on the principal component analysis of eight items. We employed descriptive statistics and multiple linear regression analysis. The results showed that the accuracy rate of the overall preparedness scale was 68.9%. The preparedness level related to economic, individual, household, and community and social distancing was 64.9, 77.1, 50.4, and 83.2%, respectively. However, the economic preparedness significantly varied by sex, education, occupation, attitude, and worries related to COVID-19. Individual preparedness was significantly associated with education, residence, and attitudes. The household preparedness significantly ...

Introduction: Child health, especially childhood mortality, is one of the critical indicators of human development. No child mortality is desirable, but it is still high in Bangladesh. We aimed to assess the effect of the child's desired status of mothers on childhood morbidity and mortality of Bangladesh. Data and Method: We used the data from nationally representative cross-sectional Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey (BDHS) 2014 and restricted the analyses to children born in the past five years preceding the survey. We estimated the undesired status (excess in boy, girl, both, and parity) by subtracting an ideal number of children from the total live birth. We measured childhood mortality (neonatal, infant, and under-five mortality), morbidity (fever, diarrhea, cough, and ARI), and nutritional problems (stunting, wasting, and underweight). Finally, we utilized the chi-square test and multilevel logistic regression analyses. Findings: The prevalence of undesired childre...

Cesarean deliveries (C-section) have continued to rise at an alarming rate in Bangladesh, a trend which may increase maternal health risks. The prevalence of C-section deliveries in an institutional setting has increased from 2.4% in1999-2000, to 7.5% in 2007 and to 23% in 2014. This study finds that 15.3% of the C-section performed in 2014 were in the avoidable category. The bivariate analysis shows that the rate varied according to the age at first birth, division (region), place of residence, educational level, access to any media, household wealth quintile of the respondent, birth order, frequency of antenatal care visits, body mass index, and place of delivery. The analysis reveals that the rate of C-section delivery is substantially higher at private hospitals than at public facilities. Our results show that women with higher income households and higher education have a greater probability of a C-section childbirth. However, it is not only the demand side, but also the supply side issues such as the doctor’s ethics or lack thereof, which may influence these trends and increase health risks for both the mother and child. These also result in an increased economic burden on the existing medical infrastructure of the country. The paper recommends creating a database for greater transparency, and other guidelines to regulate C-section deliveries in the country.

The use of symbols to express or represent ideas or
qualities in literature, art, science etc. is called
symbolism. This paper would try to find out the
definition of symbolism with its different types and
dimensions. After that, some unique characteristic of
symbolism would try to be given with the theoretical
explanation of symbolism. And Symbolism in
Bangladesh and other native population would be
discussed at the final.

Legality and availability of abortion service is highly linked up with reproductive health. Unsafe abortion results mostly from illegal and unavailable abortion situation. And this paper will try to find out what is abortion situation in a legal and illegal country e.g. Philippines and Germany, with assessing how legality affects reproductive health by affecting abortion. And this paper will try to show the process how legality and availability of abortion service is linked to promotion of reproductive health by a giving a framework. And finally some alternative to abortion will be addressed.

Urbanization in Bangladesh has some spatial characteristics. There is regional variation in the level of urbanization. It ranges from a high of 90% for the district of Dhaka to a low of less than 15% for greater Faridpur, Tangail, Patuakhali and Sylhet. There are 7 City Corporations and over 315 Pourashavas (Municipalities). The other towns have the Union Parishad type of local government. In the coming decades the urban population in Bangladesh will continue to grow but the rate of growth of urban population may go down to some extent. However, it would still be around 3.6% in the year 2015. By that time, the total national population would rise to 185 million, the urban population to around 68 million, and the share of the urban population to 30%. In the not too distant future (most likely before 2050), more than 50% of Bangladesh population (of around 200 million) would be urban with over 100 million people. With the nature of urban transition, this paper will try to find out the problems and prospects of urbanization with policy issues related to urbanization in Bangladesh.

Internal migration is a crucial factor for developing countries like Bangladesh as it affects both economic and social development. By the quantitative research with structured questionnaire using cross sectional design data will be collected. Both descriptive and inferential statistical test will be used for analysis.

Urbanization in Bangladesh has some spatial characteristics. There is regional variation in the level of urbanization. It ranges from a high of 90% for the district of Dhaka to a low of less than 15% for greater Faridpur, Tangail, Patuakhali and Sylhet. There are 7 City Corporations and over 315 Pourashavas (Municipalities). The other towns have the Union Parishad type of local government. In the coming decades the urban population in Bangladesh will continue to grow but the rate of growth of urban population may go down to some extent. However, it would still be around 3.6% in the year 2015. By that time, the total national population would rise to 185 million, the urban population to around 68 million, and the share of the urban population to 30%. In the not too distant future (most likely before 2050), more than 50% of Bangladesh population (of around 200 million) would be urban with over 100 million people. With the nature of urban transition, this paper will try to find out the problems and prospects of urbanization with policy issues related to urbanization in Bangladesh.

The Department of Population Sciences of the University of Dhaka study (2017) reported 6 percentage points higher prevalence of child marriage (67%) than that is reported in the most recent Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey 2017-2018. The incidence of neonatal, post-neonatal, and under-five mortality was higher among ever-married women who had child marriage than those who had an adult marriage. Higher childhood mortality experienced by the rural, non-educated, poorest women who married before 18 years. The key recommendations made towards ending child marriage to reduce childhood mortality in Bangladesh are: (i) Taking interventions to delaying marriage until completion of higher secondary education; (ii) Ensuring compulsory birth registration; (iii) Taking interventions to increase the age at first pregnancy; and alleviating poverty by creating employment opportunities for girls.

Key Messages: 1. The older population of Bangladesh are rapidly increasing. 2. The issues related to healthy and active aging concept should be introduced to all levels of education and social system as life-course perspectives. 3. Ageism needs to be eradicated by emphasizing aging-related morality and responsibility in our education and social system. 4. Healthy life expectancy of the older population should be improved by increasing their active participation in different socioeconomic activities to reap the second demographic dividend.

Gender-biased sex selection (GBSS) is a harmful practice, a form of discrimination against girls, and a human rights violation.The present study, “Exploring Gender-Biased Sex Selection in Bangladesh: Causes and Consequences” is the result of UNFPA’s long-standing partnership with the European Union Delegation in Bangladesh. As an extension of that collaboration, the partners selected the Department of Population Sciences at the University of Dhaka as an implementing partner under the 9th Country Programme between UNFPA and the Government of Bangladesh. The objective of this study is to explore the dynamics of gender-biased sex selection and to recommend effective policies and strategies to alleviate the causes of GBSS and avert its negative consequences in Bangladesh. This study attempts to identify the preconditions of GBSS in Bangladesh and, if GBSS is found, the potential consequences of GBSS in the country. It examines the availability of and access to sex-detection technologies (SDTs) and the extent to which they may be used in conjunction with menstrual regulation (MR). It also attempts to identify the extent of abortion induced/clandestine), which is illegal in Bangladesh except to save a woman’s life, and mechanisms through which it may be contributing to GBSS. This study employs a mixed-methods research design. Data were collected from four types of respondents using face-to-face interviews by structured questionnaire and topic guide. The respondents of the quantitative study were ever-married women aged 15–49 with at least one child aged less than or equal to five years and health facilities at district, sub-district and union level. A total of 2,610 randomly selected ever-married women were interviewed. Selection of the study areas were determined by their relative SRB. Three out of seven divisions of Bangladesh were selected based on their SRBs as high, medium and low: Sylhet (107.1), Dhaka (106.6) and Rangpur (105.5). Qualitative data was collected from women who have used MR or abortion services, husbands of women who have used MR or abortion services, and programme managers and services providers including the following: gynecologists, sonologists, medical officers, Upazila family planning officers, sub-assistant community medical officers, family welfare visitors, family welfare assistants, counsellors and skilled birth attendants. Overall, 64 out of 2,610 ever-married women (2.5 per cent) in this study reported that they had terminated a pregnancy after three months of conception (after 12 weeks), which varied according to study areas. The three most common reasons were complications due to accident (36.5 per cent), physical complications (33.3 per cent) and unintended pregnancy (28.6 per cent). Three preconditions are considered conducive to sex-imbalance at birth, giving rise to the potential occurrence of GBSS in a society: son preference, low fertility and access to sex-detection technology (Guilmoto, 2009; 2015; 2018). The first precondition of GBSS is son preference.The study finds about 28 per cent of women had a son preference for their first child while this rate was 24 per cent among men. Most of the women desired a son as their first child because a son: is more acceptable in the society (43.8 per cent), source of future security (43.0 per cent), can secure the asset of the family (42.6 per cent), source of future economic security for family (22.9 per cent), can continue a line of descent (22.4 per cent), and source of mental strength for parents (22.3 per cent). The second precondition of GBSS is low fertility, according to Guilmoto (2009; 2015; 2018). Ninety-one per cent of currently married women preferred small families while the rest preferred large families. The preference for small families varied with women’s age, division, place of residence and education. The total fertility rate (TFR) in Bangladesh has declined dramatically from as high as 6.3 births per woman in the mid-1970s to 2.3 children in 2017–2018 (NIPORT et. al., 2019). The third precondition is access to sex-detection technology (SDT). Eighty-two per cent of the women said SDT was available in their areas or their neighbouring areas. Ultrasound technology was available in 23 out of 34 facilities, as found by the health facility survey. Overall, 40 per cent of women used ultrasonography to detect the sex of the fetus. The qualitative data found several motives behind utilization of SDT: to learn the overall health status and position of the fetus, to detect complications in patients with post-MR health issues, for antenatal care, to learn the sex of the fetus, due to doctor’s advice and for caesarean delivery. Menstrual regulation (MR) in Bangladesh is one of the official family planning methods and is legal up to 12 weeks (GoB, n.d.). The study finds that MR services were provided in 19 out of 34 health facilities. About 9 per cent of women ever used MR. Of women who had used MR services, the most prevalent method (44.1 per cent) used is MR performed with medication (MRM) followed by manual vacuum aspiration methods (33.1 per cent). Close to 17 per cent of women had performed MR after 10 weeks from the last date of menstruation. About 27 per cent of women used last MR services from the private hospitals/clinics, while 9.5 per cent of women obtained treatment from persons unqualified, underqualified or unlicensed to provide medical care. The predominant reason for using MR services was to terminate the unintended pregnancy (58.8 per cent), followed by physical complications (17.6 per cent) and fetus damaged by accident (17.6 per cent). This study provides strong evidence that the preconditions of GBSS exist in Bangladesh. This study reemphasizes the need for implementing existing laws, policies and programmes to enhance the status of women and girls and reduce harmful practices rooted in discrimination, as part of efforts to prevent the risk of spreading GBSS in Bangladesh. MR-related services at the closest health care facilities such as Union health and family welfare centres (UH&FWC) should be ensured and strengthened. Strong advocacy and awareness-raising activities should be ensured to stimulate conversation, discussion and debate within communities to strengthen and expand consensus around the concept of the equal value of girls and boys. Follow-up and monitoring of MR policy guidelines should be employed by service providers by the relevant Ministry to address emerging health risks. Provision of MR services such as MRM should be practised under strong monitoring and supervision to prevent abuse. The study found only four cases out of 64 abortions (after 12 weeks), where women deliberately discontinued the pregnancy for purposes of sex selection. Few cases of such kind may occur in the community; the magnitude of such incidence could be very low; and the SRB remains balanced. However, the strong presence of GBSS preconditions may escalate the situation and spread GBSS in Bangladesh. Three future scenarios could arise: One scenario could be that GBSS may take place in Bangladesh in the near future as SDT reaches the doorsteps of more couples and the society advances economically and socially. A demographic masculinization process (Guilmoto et al., 2018) has taken place in neighbouring countries of India and Nepal, and Bangladesh could join this group in the future, as it takes time for the consequences of GBSS to fully develop statistically (Guilmoto, 2009; Guilmoto et al., 2018). The second scenario could come from using MR, which is one of the official family planning methods and is legal up to 12 weeks. This study finds ever-married women went through MR to terminate a fetus. If advanced technology to detect the sex of the fetus (even before 12 weeks) becomes available in the country, the GBSS situation may change in Bangladesh. The third scenario could be that GBSS may never gain momentum in Bangladesh, as the governmental, non-governmental and social institutions have been very active in enhancing the status of women in society. Since evidence shows few cases of GBSS, unless reliable census or other large-scale quantitative data is obtained, it is hard to know for certain. Thus, the government and other stakeholders should carefully monitor the SRB and measure demographic sex ratios accurately through large-scale surveys in future. The government with all stakeholders, including United Nations agencies, international NGOs and national non-governmental organizations should work hand in hand to make Bangladesh a safe place that values girls.