Low budget or management flaws? Experts flag inefficiency in health spending

PDF Version Highlights: Flawed preparation blamed for failing to identify priorities Despite potential, primary healthcare underfunded Managerial inefficiency hampers fund utilisation NCDs underprioritised despite rising deaths Women, child health budget cut again Need skilled managers, better planning Private sector unregulated, inequitable care Budget usually slashed significantly in revisions The health sector is facing major budgetary
Read more
No Comments

Fighting TB on the Frontlines: Voices from the Ground

Abdullah M. Rafi Read the PDF Version Mr. Mahmud (pseudonym), 59, the Tuberculosis & Leprosy Controller Assistant (TLCA) at one of the TB centers on the outskirts – a 70-kilometer drive from the capital Dhaka – reflecting on his journey in combating TB, asserted that if people stopped using tobacco products, the number of TB
Read more
No Comments

Roundtable on Universal Health Coverage in Bangladesh: Challenges & Opportunities

  On the occasion of the 11th anniversary of the ARK Foundation, a roundtable discussion titled “Universal Healthcare in Bangladesh: Challenges and Opportunities” was organized by the ARK Foundation and Prothom Alo on 30 November 2024. To read the summary of the speakers’ speeches, please go to this link or find the PDF here আর্ক ফাউন্ডেশনের ১১
Read more
No Comments

Role of Youth in Fight Against Air Pollution

By Fahmida Farzana and Abdullah M. Rafi AMID the lingering haze over Bangladesh’s cities, air pollution has become an escalating public health crisis. From brick kilns to traffic congestion, harmful pollutants seep into every aspect of urban life, making this not just a climate issue but a matter of human survival. These fine particulate matters
Read more
No Comments

Latest Edition of ARK Foundation’s Newsletter

We are pleased to announce the release of the latest edition of ARK Foundation Bangladesh’s newsletter. This edition covers the key highlights and activities from the past six months, showcasing our collective achievements and the progress made across various initiatives. The newsletter includes success stories, a summary of our team’s efforts, and highlights of key
Read more
No Comments

ARK’s SIMPLE Solution to the Urban Data Dearth

Abdullah Muhammad Rafi On December of 2022, the Government of Bangladesh declared its next major initiative – the Smart Bangladesh Initiative – with a view to building a Smart Nation by 2041. Government’s Aspire to Innovate (a2i) program defines a ‘smart nation’ as “harnessing emerging technologies, networks, and data to create tech-enabled solutions that contribute
Read more
No Comments

Community-led Responsive and Effective Urban Health Systems (CHORUS)

CHORUS is a Research Programme Consortium that brings together health researchers from South Asia, West Africa, and the UK. CHORUS works with communities, health professionals and city level decision makers to strengthen the urban health system, especially for the urban poor. ARK Foundation is currently implementing three projects under CHORUS. Project 1 aims to strengthen
Read more
No Comments

A Multicomponent Intervention to Reduce Home-Exposure to Second-Hand Smoke (SHS) During Pregnancy and Postnatal Period (IMPRESS)

The IMPRESS was a pilot trial of a multi-component intervention which aimed to culturally adapt, and then evaluate, the effectiveness of evidence-based strategies to reduce second-hand smoking within homes in the peri-urban area of Bangladesh. It also aimed to determine the costs versus benefits of implementing such an intervention. The study was carried out in
Read more
No Comments

Community Solution to Antimicrobial Resistance (COSTAR)

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a growing threat to global health, food sustainability, and socio-economic development. It is estimated that AMR infections cause approximately 700,000 human deaths each year globally and this figure is set to rise to 10 million by 2050 if no action is taken. Multi-sectoral action that addresses human and animal health, agriculture,
Read more
No Comments

Improving Outcomes in Mental and Physical Multimorbidity and Developing Research Capacity (IMPACT) in South Asia at the University of York

People with severe mental illness (SMI; i.e. schizophrenia, bipolar affective disorder and severe depression with psychosis) die on average 10-20 years earlier than the general population. Around 80% of deaths in people with SMI are due to preventable physical illnesses, most commonly cardio-metabolic diseases, respiratory disorders, and infectious diseases. Comorbidity of physical and mental illness
Read more
No Comments