Public Health helps make the world a better place

In Bangladesh, diabetes is a major public health concern due to high prevalence and associated conditions such as cardiovascular and kidney disease. For Master of Public Health students at IUBAT, there are many ways to think about the problem and possible approaches to reduce diabetes rates. Students examine diabetes-related data in their courses in Epidemiology and Biostatistics. They consider root cause solutions such as healthy built environments in their One Health course and in Reproductive Health they look at the impact of gestational diabetes. In the course, Social and Behavioural Sciences in Public Health, they learn how to design programs for health promotion and disease prevention.

The graphic above is from Our World in Data, a frequent reference for our MPH students. This excellent organization asks, “What do we need to know to make the world a better place?” This sums up what we are trying to achieve with our support for the MPH program itself. In this video, BHP Director John Richards discusses the aims of our involvement with the IUBAT MPH program.

Strengthening health systems globally

BHP director Alex Berland recently published A self-assessment guide for readiness to govern in the International Journal of Health Governance. Effective governance is essential for improving quality of care, human resource management and business practices. The article introduces a “Readiness Self-Assessment Guide” that can be used as a diagnostic tool to help health service governors and managers, particularly in Low-Middle Income Countries. It is based on Berland’s experience working in health care systems globally, including a recent project with Sajida Foundation Hospital, Keraniganj, Bangladesh.

Education priorities

BHP Director John Richards along with colleagues Manzoor Ahmed and Shahidul Islam recently published an op-ed on education reforms in Bangladesh’s leading English-language newspaper. They recommend urgent and short-term actions to return to a “new normal” with effective consultation processes to engage students, families and teachers. In the medium-term, they propose, “Teachers' professionalism and performance are the pivot of change in education.” They also propose increased education budgets; meaningful assessment of student learning; decentralized management, and involvement of industry experts to ensure graduates have the right skills. This is an ambitious agenda and the authors conclude, “The interim government is not expected to complete all the needed reforms. But if it realizes at least some of the key reforms and charts the way ahead for others, it will have done justice to the sacrifices of students and citizens during the July-August movement.” You can read about BHP support for primary education in our earlier blog posts.