By Ai Keow Lim, Fahmidur Rahman & Maham Zahid  What is TB and how smoking impacts TB Tuberculosis (TB) is a bacterial infection spread through respiratory droplets dispersed into the air, when someone with TB coughs and sneezes. Smoking increases the chances of contracting TB infection and TB disease. TB patients who smoke are more

Managing change or change management is an inevitable part of any organization. Health sector, like any other organization, also faces continuous changes, which take place in the form of policy change and health sector reforms. Since independence Bangladesh health sector has undergone various changes mainly due to changes in its objectives. However, these changes could

Despite enormous efforts, Bangladesh has one of the highest burdens of tuberculosis (TB) in the world. Treatment in the private sector is common and popular among TB patients in South Asian countries, including Bangladesh, even though the quality of diagnosis and treatment of TB patients has been shown to be poor in several such countries.

We used operational research to develop and evaluate a mechanism for effective and sustainable TB control in workplaces in three areas of Dhaka, Bangladesh. Strategies, protocols, guides and tools were developed with stakeholders. We assessed the impact of the project using quantitative and qualitative measures: changes in TB outcomes were calculated using standard indicators based

In Bangladesh, private healthcare is common and popular, regardless of income or area of residence, making the private sector an important player in health service provision. Although the private sector offers a good range of health services, tuberculosis (TB) care in the private sector is poor. We conducted research in Dhaka, between 2004 and 2008,

This paper analyses the knowledge and attitude of people regarding smoking restriction in public places under Tobacco Control Act-2005. To read the article, please download the PDF. PDF Version 

In Bangladesh, second-hand smoke (SHS) is recognised as a principal source of indoor air pollution and a major public health problem. However, we know little about the extent to which people are aware of the risks of second-hand smoking, or restrict smoking indoors or in the presence of children. We report findings of a community

Almost a fifth of the world’s tobacco is consumed in smokeless form. Its consumption is particularly common in South Asia, where an increasing array of smokeless tobacco (SLT) products is widely available. Mindful of the growing public health threat from SLT, a group of international academics and policy makers recently gathered to identify policy and

Exposure to second-hand smoke is a threat to children’s health. We developed a school-based smoke-free intervention (SFI) to support families in implementing smoke-free homes in Bangladesh, and gathered preliminary evidence of its effectiveness. To read the article, please download the PDF. PDF Version 

Most South Asian countries are signatories to the WHO Framework Convention for Tobacco Control (FCTC). However, there is little information on the extent to which FCTC standards are effectively implemented for controlling smokeless tobacco (SLT)—used by over 250 million people in the region. We assessed the feasibility of a novel approach based on interviewing the