Tag:public health

The episode marks a critical moment for global health diplomacy. As pandemics and health crises increasingly transcend borders, the debate over the US withdrawal from the WHO highlights the fragile balance between national interests and collective security in an interconnected world.

In the first quarter of 2025, Bangladesh reported only 641 malaria cases and one death – a dramatic fall from the 13,099 cases and six deaths recorded in 2024, and a far cry from the 84,690 cases and 154 fatalities seen in 2008 at the height of the country’s malaria burden.

The Global Tobacco Industry Interference Index 2025 underscores that tobacco industry influence remains a formidable barrier to public health policy in Bangladesh and worldwide. While some countries demonstrate notable progress, Bangladesh’s mid-to-high interference score suggests that institutional reforms and stricter safeguards are urgently needed.

Despite the obstacles, Pakistan has shown significant reductions in reported polio cases in recent years, though sporadic outbreaks serve as stark reminders of how tenuous progress can be.

Despite short-term improvements when winds disperse pollutants, Pakistan’s larger “smog season,” which typically lasts from October through February, has become a recurring annual crisis with economic and social costs that reverberate beyond public health into education, productivity and infrastructure planning.

Experts point out that recovery fund and planned reconstruction must also prioritise restoring agricultural capacity, irrigation and roads – because Sri Lanka’s food security and export-based economy depend critically on them.

Recent pledges from multilateral funding platforms – notably the replenishment of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria – and renewed donor commitment signal that global solidarity may yet rescue the response.

There is growing scientific support for including metabolic health in the cost-benefit calculations of air-quality interventions. A polluted city is not just a respiratory hazard – it may also be silently fuelling obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases at scale.