OWSA Contributor

At least 16 people were killed and several others injured after a massive fire engulfed a garment factory and an adjoining chemical warehouse in Dhaka’s Mirpur area on Tuesday, October 14, exposing once again the fragile state of industrial safety in Bangladesh’s most vital economic sector.

This allows researchers to recreate the compound in controlled settings, speeding up pharmaceutical development and reducing dependence on scarce natural sources.

The avalanche’s impact generated a powerful displacement wave that breached a second downstream glacial lake, releasing an additional 303,000 cubic metres of water – a combined total equivalent to 185 Olympic-sized swimming pools.

In a landmark public health achievement, the World Health Organization (WHO) has validated the Maldives for eliminating mother-to-child transmission (EMTCT) of hepatitis B.

As Nepal moves further into the post-monsoon season, the health sector faces a precarious balance. On one side are the improving weather conditions and fading monsoon rains; on the other, the remnants of mosquito-friendly conditions – standing water, warm afternoons, high humidity – that sustain dengue transmission.

The warning came during a workshop in Kabul on child and adolescent mental health. Alice James, UNICEF’s representative in Afghanistan, urged Afghan authorities, humanitarian agencies, and civil society to adopt a unified, national strategy to address the burgeoning mental health crisis.

While the company’s withdrawal may seem abrupt, it is the result of mounting pressures – both internal and external – that eroded its once-thriving business in Pakistan.