This op-ed examines the philosophical foundation of the debate over the 1972 Constitution of Bangladesh and whether it requires reform or a complete rewrite. Reform would involve specific amendments to address current issues while rewriting would involve a full reconsideration to eliminate authoritarian elements and restore alignment with the democratic ideals of the 1971 Liberation War. This perspective emphasizes the need to return to the roots of the 1971 Proclamation of Independence, issued on April 10, 1971, by the Provisional (...) Government of Bangladesh in Mujibnagar. The proclamation championed the values of equality, human dignity, and social justice. Philosophy provides a framework for evaluating the Constitution’s core principles—nationalism, socialism, democracy, and secularism—and exposes how their misapplication has weakened democracy and marginalized citizens. A complete rewrite grounded in the first principles of equality, human dignity, and social justice could restore the Constitution’s role as both a moral and legal guide. Such an effort would ensure ethical governance and a democratic framework, providing stability and realigning the nation’s governance with its founding ideals. This perspective emphasizes the vital role of philosophy in advancing justice and democracy. (shrink)

The dramatic overthrow and ouster of the Awami League government led by Sheikh Hasina in Bangladesh in August 2024 has opened up unknown vistas for the country. In this post, I look at the freedoms gained, and what one can learn and discern from it all.

Bangladesh is stepping into a new chapter, asserting its sovereignty and challenging decades of asymmetrical ties with India. This commentary discusses this transformative shift, exploring what it means for both nations and the broader South Asian region. This moment is more than political—it is about dignity, justice, and building relationships rooted in equality and mutual respect. For Bangladesh, it’s a call to strengthen unity and democracy. For India, it’s a chance to move from dominance to ethical leadership. Together, (...) Bangladesh and India can break free from historical cycles and shape a future of shared prosperity and cooperation. (shrink)

In this commentary, I explain how a student movement evolved from a social movement for quota reform into a political movement demanding regime change. I argue that the key factor enabling this transformation was its ability to unite various factions, which shifted public sentiment from addressing specific grievances to mounting a broader challenge to the regime.

The 2024 uprising in Bangladesh marks a significant victory in the fight against authoritarianism, yet it remains an incomplete revolution. Its true success will hinge on whether it can pave the way for a new political order that reflects the hopes and aspirations of its participants. In this commentary, I draw on Arendt’s concept of natality to explore this pivotal moment, as it emphasizes the need for ongoing creativity, active engagement, and the creation of new possibilities. I argue that (...) Bangladesh’s future will be shaped by the movement’s ability to channel its momentum into building a lasting and visionary political landscape that embodies the collective will of its people. (shrink)

Bangladesh is a Muslim-majority society with more than 163 million people. Most Bangladeshis hold the ideals of Islamic norms and values which is manifest in all sorts of socio-cultural behaviour. In reference to such values, the tradition of legitimizing child marriage in Bangladesh is the issue that needs to be addressed in a holistic yet rigorous approach. Currently Bangladesh ranks 4th in the world and 1st in Asia in terms of child marriage. Recently the Child Marriage Restraint (...) Act 1929 has been abolished and it has been replaced by the Act of 2017 preserving article 2 of the previous statute, the legal age for marriage for a boy 21 and for a girl 18. This Act adds article 19 which legalizes minors (below 18 years of age) to be married off with the consent of the parents/guardians at the presence of a magistrate under “special circumstances” deemed with securing the best interest for them. The law artfully coincides with the Muslim Marriage Law which allows participants of 15 years and above to get legally married and as such contradicts the international law and the Act of 2017 itself. In the West intimate relationships including extra-marital cohabitation before reaching 18 years of age are culturally accepted. In contrast, such extra-marital and intimate relationships are strictly prohibited in Muslim-majority societies, which are dearly adhered in Bangladeshi Muslim culture. This study examines how the religious cultural and socio-economic realities influence child marriage practice in Bangladesh. Along with secondary documents, we interviewed 22 individuals including the Deputy Commissioner, the District Women and Children Affairs Officer, elected Union Parishad Chairman and Members, Social Workers, married couples and their parents/guardians at Manikganj district. In addition, we also conducted a mass survey with 62 randomly selected participants, and a voluntary online survey where the opinion of another 53 young students were collected to find broad opinion. We also collected stories of how marriages take place at the rural, urban and sub-urban areas in Bangladesh. The study has revealed that Bangladeshis does not support marriage at early ages but socio-economic reality often pushes poor into getting their children married at early ages. Many view that the special provision may encourage child marriage in the country. This study suggests that the government of Bangladesh should redefine public policy in regard to finding a middle ground between Islamic ethics and international values by exploring isomorphic mimicry and other socio-culturally accepted measures with a view to abolishing child marriage successfully. (shrink)

In Bangladesh, opposition parties like BNP and JI have struggled to mobilize support despite their claims of championing democracy. The 2024 Anti-Discrimination Student Movement, however, succeeded where these parties failed, uniting people across political divides. Though BNP and JI offered covert support, they hesitated to openly join the movement, reflecting deeper issues in their strategies. This commentary argues that the movement’s success highlighted public disillusionment with traditional politics and the need for trust and accountability in future political mobilization, showing (...) a path to genuine, inclusive change. (shrink)

The piece delves into the political and philosophical complexities surrounding the Bangladesh Awami League's future following the 2024 student-public uprising. It explores the challenge of reconciling the party's foundational philosophies of Bengali nationalism and secularism with the movement's collective calls for democracy and pluralism, and considers whether redemption is possible through ideological transformation or a pragmatic focus on regime change.

GREAT EMPIRES may come and go, but, like the tides, they leave behind a tangled assortment of treasures and trash. In the case of the British Empire, this included much that one might admire, but also a British Protestant morality that was codified in laws that persist to this day. Section 377 of the colonial Penal Code is a striking example. It classed consensual oral and anal sex as “carnal intercourse against the order of nature” and made it a crime (...) punishable with imprisonment for life. When the British administrators withdrew, they took their soldiers, but left their law books behind. Section 377 was recently repealed in India, but it is still very much on the books in Bangladesh. (shrink)

Since its hard-won independence from Pakistan, Bangladesh has been ravaged by economic and environmental disasters. Only recently has the country begun to emerge as a fragile, but functioning, parliamentary democracy. The story of Bangladesh, told through the pages of this concise and readable book, is a truly remarkable one. By delving into its past, and through an analysis of the economic, political and social changes that have taken place over the last twenty years, the book explains how (...) class='Hi'>Bangladesh is becoming of increasing interest to the international community as a portal into some of the key issues of our age. In this way the book offers an important corrective to the view of Bangladesh as a failed state. (shrink)

Organ transplantation from living related donors in Bangladesh first began in October 1982, and became commonplace in 1988. Cornea transplantation from posthumous donors began in 1984 and living related liver and bone marrow donor transplantation began in 2010 and 2014 respectively. The Human Organ Transplantation Act officially came into effect in Bangladesh on 13th April 1999, allowing organ donation from both brain-dead and related living donors for transplantation. Before the legislation, religious leaders issued fatwa, or religious rulings, in (...) favor of organ transplantation. The Act was amended by the Parliament on 8th January, 2018 with the changes coming into effect shortly afterwards on 28th January. However, aside from a few posthumous corneal donations, transplantation of vital organs, such as the kidney, liver, heart, pancreas, and other body parts or organs from deceased donors, has remained absent in Bangladesh. The major question addressed in this article is why the transplantation of vital organs from deceased donors is absent in Bangladesh. In addition to the collection of secondary documents, interviews were conducted with senior transplant physicians, patients and their relatives, and the public, to learn about posthumous organ donation for transplantation. Interviews were also conducted with a medical student and two grief counselors to understand the process of counseling the families and obtaining consent to obtain posthumous cornea donations from brain-dead patients. An interview was conducted with a professional anatomist to understand the processes behind body donation for the purposes of medical study and research. Their narrative reveals that transplant physicians may be reticent to declare brain death as the stipulations of the 1999 act were unclear and vague. This study finds that Bangladeshis have strong family ties and experience anxiety around permitting separating body parts of dead relatives for organ donation for transplantation, or donating the dead body for medical study and research purposes. Posthumous organ donation for transplantation is commonly viewed as a wrong deed from a religious point of view. Religious scholars who have been consulted by the government have approved posthumous organ donation for transplantation on the grounds of necessity to save lives even though violating the human body is generally forbidden in Islam. An assessment of the dynamics of biomedicine, religion and culture leads to the conclusion that barriers to posthumous organ donation for transplantation that are perceived to be religious may actually stem from cultural attitudes. The interplay of faith, belief, religion, social norms, rituals and wider cultural attitudes with biomedicine and posthumous organ donation and transplantation is very complex. Although overcoming the barriers to organ donation for transplantation is challenging, initiation of transplantation of vital organs from deceased donors is necessary within Bangladesh. This will ensure improved healthcare outcomes, prevent poor people from being coerced into selling their organs to rich recipients, and protect the solidarity and progeny of Bangladeshi families. (shrink)

Buddhism has a rich tradition in Bangladesh, developed through the development of Mahayana and Theravada Buddhism in ancient Bengal. The followers of Buddhism in present-day Bangladesh mainly live in the Chittagong region. Their religious life is reflected in temples, monasteries, and social activities. The non-violence and humanism of the Buddha's teachings have had a profound impact on the culture here. However, as a religious minority in modern times, the Buddhist community faces various challenges. This chapter analyses the historical (...) context, current impact, and prospects of Buddhism in Bangladesh. (shrink)

Introduction: Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) has unfavorable consequences for women as well as for newborn babies, which is very serious and preventable public health problem. It is believed to have an excessive occurrence in lives of women in South Asia. The objective of this study is to describe the prevalence, risk factors and consequences of IPV in Bangladesh. Methods: A scoping review was carried out based on the past 12 years of posted and gray literature about IPV in (...) class='Hi'>Bangladesh using Arksey and O’Malley’s framework. Only the literature addressing abuses or violence in households or outside including physical, sexual or mental violence on the married woman in Bangladesh were taken into consideration for the study. Results: The overall prevalence of IPV in Bangladesh, the latest reviews of rates ranging from 15.5-82.7%.Most of the IPV in Bangladesh was based totally on the experience of legally married women. The main risk factors of IPV in Bangladesh were women being younger, from lower socioeconomic reputation, from lower academic attainment and lower education of husband, dowry, child marriage, perceived disobedience of wives, family conflict, children had recently been ill, and incapability of to furnish sexual satisfaction. Maternal depressive symptoms, signs of stress, anxiety and constraint to the better health of young children are the main consequences of IPV in Bangladesh. Besides, IPV causes unwanted pregnancy, pregnancy loss in the form of miscarriage, induced abortion, or stillbirth and termination of pregnancy in Bangladesh. Conclusions: Woman’s empowerment may reduce IPV and understanding attitudes towards IPV in cultural context could be crucial for developing interventions to reduce IPV and its consequences. (shrink)

Pharmaceutical promotion is a negative influencing force for prescribing. However, very few regulatory initiatives are taken to overcome this unwarranted influence. The present research was conducted in such context with an attempt to review the regulatory documents related to pharmaceutical promotion in Bangladesh including Code of Pharmaceutical Marketing Practices (CPMP), and to compare CPMP with different global guidelines. The studied guidelines demonstrate effort to regulate promotion, though that varies to a great extent, particularly in enforcement aspects. Clearly defined ethical (...) and legal prohibitions, provisions of punishment for violations and entrusted agency with defined authority are crucial. (shrink)

The government of Bangladesh approved the human organ transplantation law in 1999 and updated it in 2018. This legislation approved both living‐related donor and posthumous organ transplantation. The law only allows family members to legally donate organs to their relatives. The main focus of this study was to explore how Bangladeshis make donation decisions on familial organs for transplantation. My ethnographic fieldwork with forty participants (physicians and nurses, a healthcare administrator, organ donors, recipients, and their relatives) disclosed that the (...) organ donation decision was family‐based. An assessment of the relationship between religion, culture, and biomedicine leads to the conclusion that deciding on donating organs to relatives is primarily family‐based and is perceived to be steeped in Islamic ethical principles and religious cultural tradition. The family‐based consent and motivation for donor‐recipient pair organ transplantation strengthen an altruistic environment for the family and act as the moral and legal authority that ensures ethical healthcare outcomes for Bangladeshis. (shrink)

In Bangladesh due to improved quality of life the number of people over 60 years is increasing rapidly. This should be seen as an emerging challenge as the elderly will have special needs and require different care-giving services. Since Bangladesh does not have a social welfare system there will be competition for inadequate resources specially health and medical services. It is envisaged that due to more elderly population the demographic structure will undergo a slow change from the present (...) pyramid structure. The growing trend towards nuclear family or where children live abroad will put the elderly parents in a dilemma-the financial and social support that is essential for them has not yet emerged. The nutrition and health status of elderly people depend on adequate food safe water, proper sanitation facilities and maintaining hygienic standards. To provide special medical care for the elderly there is a need to establish WHO recommended Age-Friendly Primary Health Care centers and separate wards /units are to be set up in the hospitals. To reduce vulnerability of older women there is a need to distribute assets and properties according to the law.. Our new generations have to be responsive, informed and attentive about their duties and responsibilities towards the elderly people. Taking proper care of the elderly is our ethical duty and responsibility. (shrink)

In the present paper, we explore the impact of singing for girls in rural Bangladesh. Previous findings in this field-based interview study (with 18 girls) have demonstrated that singing can act as a driving force in young girls’ psychological individuation processes, implying increased agency and autonomy. A critical question, however, is to what extent the village girls will manage to maintain a feeling of agency as they pass through puberty. How do they navigate between their own wish to continue (...) singing and pressure from cultural norms (such as getting married)? Using Margareth Archer’s morphogenetic approach and Arjun Appadurai’s approach to culture as a capacity as analytical tools, we connect different modes of reflexivity to the girls’ capacity to aspire. We discuss specific mechanisms that emerge as relevant for the girls/young women as they navigate their way through the Bengali rural society. (shrink)

Integrating Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools in Bangladesh's academic landscape has ignited concerns about potentially eroding students' creative writing and critical thinking abilities. While AI offers efficient and personalized learning, there is a looming risk of students using it as a shortcut to success. Educators and policymakers must emphasize the cultivation of writing skills and critical thinking while guiding students to recognize the limitations of AI. While plagiarism checking is crucial for academic integrity, it often falls short in acknowledging students' (...) originality. Natural Language Processing (NLP) emerges as a promising solution, augmenting plagiarism detection by comprehending context, nuances, and novel expressions. This paper proposed a model based on NLP that can incorporate a robust token identification mechanism into AI tools used by the students. A unique identification token is generated at the time of system login and stored in a publicly accessible resource, acting as a distinct marker for user activity. These identification tokens support a plagiarism detection system that continually reviews and compares activity records. It also enables a thorough examination of user involvement across various academic supplementary tools, such as academic writing, presentation creation, image generation, etc. (shrink)

BackgroundThe pharmaceutical market in Bangladesh is highly concentrated. Due to high competition aggressive marketing strategies are adopted for greater market share, which sometimes cross limit. There is lack of data on this aspect in Bangladesh. This exploratory study aimed to fill this gap by investigating current promotional practices of the pharmaceutical companies including the role of their medical representatives.MethodsThis qualitative study was conducted as part of a larger study to explore the status of governance in health sector in (...) 2009. Data were collected from Dhaka, Chittagong and Bogra districts through in-depth interview, observation, and round table discussion.ResultsFindings reveal a highly structured system geared to generate prescriptions and ensure market share instituted by the pharmaceuticals. A comprehensive training curriculum for the MRs prepares the newly recruited science graduates for generating enough prescriptions by catering to the identified needs and demands of the physicians expressed or otherwise, and thus grab higher market-share for the companies they represent. Approaches such as inducements, persuasion, emotional blackmail, serving family members, etc. are used. The type, quantity and quality of inducements offered to the physicians depend upon his/her capacity to produce prescriptions. The popular physicians are cultivated meticulously by the MRs to establish brand loyalty and fulfill individual and company targets. The physicians, willingly or unwillingly, become part of the system with few exceptions. Neither the regulatory authority nor the professional or consumer rights bodies has any role to control or ractify the process.ConclusionsThe aggressive marketing of the pharmaceutical companies compel their MRs, programmed to maximize market share, to adopt unethical means if and when necessary. When medicines are prescribed and dispensed more for financial interests than for needs of the patients, it reflects system’s failed ability to hold individuals and entities accountable for adhering to basic professional ethics, code of conduct, and statutory laws. (shrink)

The police are one of the most powerful and important forces for any country. The main task of the police is to install a sense of security in the ordinary citizens and to protect their life and property when they are in danger. Bangladeshi Police have a glorious past with tremendous achievement. Especially in our great liberation war in 1971, they played an important role in achieving our liberation. Eliminating terrorism & militancy and others several operation that leads with the (...) risk of their life. But there are still a lot of accusations against the police force. Like- abusing of power, Misconducting with the people, Committing crossfire defying the high-court order, Wearing white dress when they move to detain criminals, Arresting without warrant, and many other including Bribery, Extortion, Trading Drug and Yaba, Playing partisan role, keeping Bad association, Filing case against deceased man, Charging sheet against the infant who has not been born yet, Enforcing disappearance, Suppressing the freedom of express, Violating Human rights, Doing anti-social activities such as rape, forcible extortion, drinking alcohol, etc. are the real scenario of Bangladesh Police. Policing ethics or related unethical behaviors, in particular, are shaped by both societal perceptions and organizational socialization of the police personnel on how authority should be exercised, as well as the latter's relationship with the socio-political and economic structures overtime. This paper proposes to explain the role of police as the main law enforcement agency in any democratic country. An Attempt has been made to bring different perspectives of ethics which comprises views of Aristotle, Machiavelli, Immanuel Kant, J S Mill and John Rawls. The paper focuses on police Ethics. Police ethics’ reflects the society and the regulations that shape the policing system. Discuss the results and analysis of the consequences of moral degradation caused by the Police. Explore the police brutality because of the lack of Ethics to highlight the public's attitude towards police. The ethical standards and the code of conduct Police practitioners should actually abide by is an ongoing debate. (shrink)

Reform of child justice system has started with enactment of the Children Act 2013 in Bangladesh. The Act adopted a number of institutional setup for child friendly justice i.e. child help desks in the police station, separate children’s court, child development centres, national child welfare board etc. These all are inter-linked and the responsibilities of concerned authorities have been focused in the law. In practice, most of the children are deprived from their fair justice in different phases i.e. police (...) arrest, prosecution, court hearing and correctional treatment as there are lack of professional ethics of concerned personnel. Ethical approach, skill and knowledge of personnel are major challenges for treatment of offender children. Thus code of ethics are important for professionals to provide value-based justice for the best interest of the children. The study focuses on the legal and ethical responsibility towards child justice system in the country to protect child rights and their childhood. (shrink)

This book deals with the citizenship status of the Biharis in Bangladesh and their ability to access rights associated with citizenship. The main argument of the book is that although legally the Biharis are citizens of Bangladesh, they still do not have access to many important rights of citizenship that can make their citizenship meaningful. Their inability to access many important citizenship rights made them de facto stateless, although they are de-jure citizens. Taking a law and society approach (...) this book examines both legal and non-legal factors behind the deplorable conditions of the Biharis in Bangladesh. Based on fieldwork, this book analyses that the Biharis’ inability to access citizenship rights is inconsistent with citizenship theory, citizenship laws, and the Constitution of Bangladesh. To make the Biharis citizenship effective or meaningful the author suggests some recommendations for policy changes that would enable Biharis to access rights associated with citizenship. (shrink)

Bangladesh is aspiring to achieve universal health coverage by 2030. In this regard, quality and efficient healthcare delivery have been regarded as a major challenge. Proper management of employees is crucial for service organizations like healthcare because in healthcare employees provide life saving services which make them unique from other non-health professionals. They directly interface with the patients or service seekers who make evaluative judgment of the quality of service delivered by the employees. Therefore, it is important that healthcare (...) organizations (both public and private) comprehend specific organizational factors and issues that influence employee’s attitudes and behaviors, which ultimately affect their service behaviour at work. Drawing from the organizational justice principles and other management theories, this article presents a conceptual framework and a set of hypotheses regarding the relationships among distributive justice, procedural justice, interactional justice, employee’s citizenship behaviour, role prescribed behaviour and counterproductive behaviour for the healthcare organizations in Bangladesh. The purpose is to assist the policy makers and service providers in identifying desirable human resource management practices that healthcare organizations in Bangladesh should seek and engage in and at the same time, avoid undesirable practices in order to maintain optimum level of employee commitment, and citizenship behavior essential for ensuring quality and efficient service delivery to the communities. This article is ‘theoretical’ but it has practical implications for the policy makers and service providers who are directly involved with service delivery system. It is also expected that the paper enriches the health service delivery literature and also advocates focusing on justice perspectives particularly in Bangladesh. (shrink)

The author discusses Mahfuj Alam's viral speech advocating for a shift from Bengali to Bangladeshi nationalism, which is more inclusive and tolerant. The core of Mahfuj's argument is that the reform of the state should begin with the moral reform of individuals, which then extends to societal change. He criticizes the historical application of Bengali nationalism for being exclusionary and contributing to the rise of authoritarianism, suggesting that a reformed secularism within a new nationalist framework could better embrace the diversity (...) of Bangladesh. The author analyzes Mahfuj's perspective, noting its potential oversimplifications and exploring whether a new form of nationalism or a reimagined Bengali nationalism could more effectively address the country's challenges. (shrink)

Bangladesh, a Muslim-majority country, has a national organ donation law that was passed in 1999 and revised in 2018. The law allows living-related and brain-dead donor organ transplantation. There are no legal barriers to these two types of organ donations, but there is no legislation providing necessary costs and incentive measures associated with successful organ transplants. However, many governments across the globe provide different types of incentives for motivating living donors and families of deceased donors. This study assesses the (...) merits and demerits of incentive measures already in use around the world and proposes ethical measures that can promote organ donation in Bangladesh. The primary focus of this paper is to present an ethical analysis of the comparison of incentive measures on organ donation between Bangladesh and the Islamic Republic of Iran as two Muslim countries that operate organ donation for transplantation practices according to Islamic principles. In this paper, I mainly argue that providing a fixed bare minimum financial incentive measure to distantly related living donors and families of deceased donors will encourage Bangladeshis to donate organs in a manner that is ethically justifiable, morally permissible, and socio-economically appropriate. The government of Bangladesh should revise the existing biomedical law to include a provision related to incentive measures and set a strict policy to properly regulate these measures as key stewardship that can ethically promote organ donation for transplantation. (shrink)

AimThe aim of this study was to determine the presence of depressive symptoms and understand the potential factors associated with these symptoms among physicians in Bangladesh during the COVID-19 pandemic.MethodsA cross-sectional study using an online survey was conducted in between April 21 and May 10, 2020, among physicians living in Bangladesh. Participants completed a series of demographic questions, COVID-19-related questions, and the Patient Health Questionnaire-9. Descriptive statistics, test statistics were performed to explore the association between physicians’ experience of (...) depression symptoms and other study variables. Stepwise binary logistic regression was followed while conducting the multivariable analysis.ResultA total of 390 physicians completed the survey. Of them, 283 were found to be experiencing depressive symptoms. Predictors which were significantly associated with depressive symptoms were gender, the presence of sleep disturbance, being highly exposed to media coverage about the pandemic, and fear around COVID-19 infection, being assaulted/humiliated by regulatory forces and by the general public, while traveling to and from the hospital and treating patients during the countrywide lockdown.ConclusionThe findings of this study demonstrate that there is a high prevalence of depressive symptom among physicians especially among female physicians in Bangladesh during the COVID-19 pandemic. Immediate, adequate and effective interventions addressing gender specific needs are required amid this ongoing crisis and beyond. (shrink)

Informed consent to medical intervention is fundamental in both ethics and law. But in practice it is often not taken seriously in developing countries. This paper provides an appraisal of informed consent practices in Bangladesh. Following a review of the ethical and legal principles of informed consent, it assesses the degree to which doctors adhere to it in Bangladesh. Based on findings of non-compliance, it then investigates the reasons for such non-compliance through an appraisal of informed consent practices (...) in Bangladesh and provides recommendations aimed at improving such practices. The significance of this paper lies in unveiling the interdependence between the ethical and legal traits of informed consent and their ramifications on strengthening the patient-oriented approach of duty to care. (shrink)

This paper addresses the motivations behind farmers’ pesticide use in two regions of Bangladesh. The paper considers farmers’ knowledge of arthropods and their perceptions about pests and pest damage, and identifies why many farmers do not use recommended pest management practices. We propose that using the novel approach of classifying farmers according to their motivations and constraints rather than observed pesticide use can improve training approaches and increase farmers’ uptake and retention of more appropriate integrated pest management technologies.

Ce document présente les expériences des personnes handicapées physiques dans l’accès aux prêts de microfinance. La microfinance est apparue comme un outil pour éradiquer la pauvreté et autonomiser les pauvres; cependant, y accéder est difficile pour de nombreuses personnes ayant un handicap physique. Cette étude qualitative a été menée par le biais d’entretiens approfondis semi-structurés avec vingt personnes handicapées physiques au Bangladesh pour explorer leurs points de vue sur les problèmes auxquels elles sont confrontées pour accéder à la microfinance. (...) Les données ont été collectées à la fois dans des zones urbaines et rurales et auprès de participants masculins et féminins. S’appuyant sur le modèle social du handicap, cette étude constate que les personnes handicapées physiques subissent une exclusion, une stigmatisation et des obstacles importants dans l’accès à la microfinance. Dans de nombreux cas, malgré les efforts des institutions de microfinance, le crédit n’est pas disponible pour de nombreuses personnes handicapées physiques, car elles subissent un comportement négatif et hostile de la part du personnel de la microfinance et des conditions de crédit inaccessibles. De plus, les personnes handicapées physiques ont moins de possibilités d’accéder à des services autres que le crédit, tels que l’épargne, l’assurance, la formation et les mécanismes de plainte. Pour relever ces défis, les institutions de microfinance doivent élaborer des réformes institutionnelles solides et adaptées aux personnes handicapées. Les personnes handicapées devraient être activement impliquées dans le processus d’élaboration des politiques. Cette étude partagera non seulement les expériences des personnes handicapées physiques dans le contexte des pays du Sud, mais fournira également des informations qui pourraient être utiles pour comprendre les défis auxquels d’autres personnes handicapées dans différents pays sont confrontées en termes d’inclusion financière. (shrink)

Survival is obviously important, but sometimes, under particular circumstances, life can become miserable, difficult, or intolerable; at that point, survival can seem like a punishment or misfortune. A patient who is in a vegetative state, unable to sustain life with dignity, and who is suffering from a terminal illness, has freedom to choose between life and death. The practice of "mercy killing," or euthanasia is an ongoing debate in the discussion of medical ethics. When it comes to making euthanasia decisions (...) for their incompetent patients, medical practitioners are faced with a problem. The moral dilemma of whether something is morally acceptable or not is moral in nature. The "end of life" issue is related to euthanasia should be legally acceptable under specific circumstances, such as when a patient is terminally sick, death is imminent, and treatment is unsuitable and ineffective. It is morally acceptable when a patient makes the autonomous decision to end his life or asks someone else to help him. In order to make an informed decision, the patient needs to be thoroughly informed about the diagnosis and prognosis of an incurable, deadly condition. However, in the context of a Muslim-majority population, where any argument for the legality of suicide (and, by extension, physician-assisted suicide) would be automatically rejected as contrary to Islamic moral and jurisprudential principles, this is an extraordinary request for the health service authorities of a developing country to consider. This paper discusses mainly non-voluntary active euthanasia. The discussion is conducted by giving a case study from Bangladesh. The situation in Bangladesh will also be examined in the paper's last section with regard to the permissibility of active euthanasia, specifically whether it can be done in our state given the socio-cultural-religious practices that are now in place. (shrink)

Health care in Bangladesh is in a sad condition, with not enough doctors and nurses available to serve its people, but, even with this limited number of health care professionals, better care would be possible if greed for money and unaccountability to the people were controlled by the Government. Conditions for members of the nursing profession are not acceptable for those who are dedicated to serving the sick. Acknowledgement of nursing’s professional dignity is almost completely absent. In addition, the (...) salary earned is not enough to make a living. There are in existence professional associations who are struggling for the rights of the nursing community, although few concrete results have yet been seen. This article is written from the perspective of the author’s position as a member of the Board and Treasurer of the International Association of Bioethics, and her interest in feminism and bioethics, which justifies her link with oppressed nurses (because most are women) and unethical practices in the nursing profession in Bangladesh. (shrink)

Using data from Bangladesh, this paper examines how the birth order of a child influences parental decisions to place children in one of four activities: 'study only', 'study and work', 'neither work nor study' and 'work only'. The results of the multinomial logit model show that being a first-born child increases the probability of work as the prime activity, or at least a combination of school and work, rather than schooling only. The results confirm that later-born children are more (...) likely to be in school than their earlier-born counterparts. (shrink)

Euthanasia or mercy killing is, now a day, a major problem widely discussed in medical field. Medical professionals are facing dilemma to take decision regarding their incompetent patient while tend to do euthanasia. The dilemma is by nature moral i.e. whether it is morally permissible or not. In some countries of Europe and in some provinces of USA euthanasia is legally permitted fulfilling some conditions. It is claimed by Rachels that in our practical medical practice we do euthanasia by forbidding (...) patients from taking drugs. He concludes that if that type of euthanasia can be practiced in our society without any hesitation then why assisting euthanasia will not be permitted1. There are so many arguments both pro and con of euthanasia. But it is not the function of the current paper to discuss all the arguments. Philippa Foot in her article „Euthanasia‟ and J Velleman in his article titled as „A Right to Self-termination‟ discussed about the permissibility of euthanasia. The objective of the paper is to justify their arguments and then come to a conclusion regarding the permissibility of euthanasia. The focus will be given mainly on non- voluntary active and non-voluntary passive euthanasia. The method of discussion will be that an example will be given from Bangladesh and then the arguments provided by Foot and Velleman in their above mentioned papers will be discussed to justify the act of euthanasia on concerned patient. In the last section of the paper the situation of Bangladesh will also be considered for the permissibility of euthanasia i.e. whether the act of euthanasia can be permitted in our country considering the existing socio-cultural-religious practice. (shrink)

This paper examines incorrect use of oral contraceptives (OCs) in rural Bangladesh by using data from an OC compliance survey. Of the 1031 current users of OCs interviewed, about 13% took their pills out of sequence, while 17% left incorrect intervals between pill packs. Forty per cent of the women reported missing one active pill during the 6 months prior to the survey, and 74% of them took correct action with the missed pill. Of the women who missed two (...) active pills (16%), only 9% took correct action. Multivariate analyses revealed that women's education and their husbands' support helped protect against taking incorrect action with a missed pill. The fieldworker's contact was found to protect against leaving an incorrect interval between pill packs. Women who had membership of non-government organizations were less likely to interrupt their pill use, and more likely to take their pill out of sequence. The present study underscores the need for providing women with more support in their pill use, and advocates that service providers should be the focal point of efforts. Husbands' support is essential to improve the pill-taking behaviour of Bangladeshi women. (shrink)

The disability viewpoint is the fundamental for understanding social justice in a given population. Disability rights need to be obeyed in the inclusive preparedness and response to all the disasters or during the crisis period including COVID-19 pandemic. COVID-19 pandemic jeopardized the health and rehabilitation services globally. The impact is much more in low resource developing countries like Bangladesh. In general, people with disability (PWD) suffer from multiple medical and rehabilitation complications and they need frequent rehabilitation consultations or hospital (...) admissions in comparison to people without disability. As a developing country, Bangladesh has poor ratios of doctors, nurses and technologists of 1:0.4:0.24 (WHO: 1:3:5) to face the COVID-19 challenge. Rehabilitation services have been disrupted in almost two-thirds (63%) of countries of the world. Even though rehabilitation is the key to recovery following severe illness from COVID-19. There are many concerns and debates about the preparedness, response and mitigation the process of COVID-19 on the part of the national government. According to recent study reports, the lives of about 100% of PWD have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. COVID-19 National Technical Advisory Committee is working for strategic planning, response and mitigation process but omission of a representative of PWD or a rehabilitation physician in the committee has created much dissatisfaction. The difficult COVID-19 testing process due to country wide shutdown of rehabilitation essential services and central pulling of rehabilitation physicians have side lined the PWD inclusiveness. It is expected that the rehabilitation preparedness, response and mitigation of the pandemic should be based on an ethics driven process. (shrink)

Education on authorship was delivered and evaluated by pre test and post test questionnairen on 30 post graduate medical students at the Department of Anestheology, Dhaka Medical College, Bangladesh between January and June 2019 to understand the knowledge, skill and attitude of post graduate medical students on authorship. Result: Before intervention, majority (60%) of the students felt that who perform the research work should be the author of the article. But 40% students were divided and felt that who advised (...) the design of the research (20%), who provided the grants (10%) and Chief/Head of the division (10%) should be the author of the article respectively. Maximum (70%) respondents did not know the order of authorship. Of 40% respondent felt that the PI should be always the first author and 40% don’t know the answer. Half of the students (50%) felt that keeping honorary author increased the opportunity of acceptance of publication. Of 36.7% and 13.3% of students felt that keeping honorary author increased the article’s value and made good relation to them to get some extra facility from them respectively. Of 20% participants were pressurized by lab head/head of department for inclusion of their name as an author. Half of the (56.7 %) respondents felt that the author’s contribution should be stated in the article. Only few 4 (13.3%) respondents said that their institute had guideline for authorship. However, after education 100% of students felt that who perform the research work should be only the author of the article. All (100%) respondents understood the order of authorship. Most of the students (86%) felt that PI should be always the first author. Of 100% respondent felt supervisor of the research should be the last author. All students (100%) felt author’s contribution should be mentioned in the article. All (100%) students did not want to include as author those who help in research design and secured grant; and they did not like to keep honorary author in their article. All (100%) students expressed that their institute had no guideline for authorship. After intervention, three groups of students were asked to write one page of article on Anesthesiology. Interestingly, they did not include any name in the author by line who were not participate or had any contribution in the writing. Conclusion: The comparative data between pre- and post-text have highlighted a general lack of understanding of the basic concept of authorship ethics which significantly improved after the intervention. The results also indicate that the education on authorship improved the awareness of postgraduate medical students in a particular centre. (shrink)

The proliferation of multistakeholder initiatives (MSIs) over the past years has sparked an intense debate on the political role of corporations in the governance of global business conduct. To gain a better understanding of corporate political behavior in multistakeholder governance, this article investigates how firms construct a political identity when participating in MSIs. Based on an in-depth case study of the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh—an MSI established after the collapse of the Rana Plaza garment factory (...) complex in 2013 to improve working conditions in the Bangladeshi garment industry—we introduce the construct of a political CSR (corporate social responsibility) identity (PCSRI) and explore how firms construct their PCSRIs in MSIs. Employing a qualitative, inductive theory-building method, we analyze interviews and archival data to develop a framework that elucidates how companies construct their PCSRIs within a continuum ranging from conservative to progressive. We show that constructing a PCSRI involves enacting specific, yet interrelated, political strategies that are themselves shaped by several forces over time. This article contributes to the literature by providing a political perspective on organizational identity construction that extends the emerging integrative perspective in political corporate social responsibility (PCSR) research. We suggest that MSIs should be conceptualized as inherently political governance mechanisms that are driven by multidirectional and dynamic political processes of identity construction. Our study shows that corporate political engagement in MSIs is a more nuanced and complex phenomenon than presently theorized. (shrink)

Having scandalous unethical research practices in the mid and late 20th century, study protocols of biomedical research reviewed by the Ethics Committee (EC) has become the accepted international standard. The Declaration of Helsinki uniformly requires that all biomedical research involving human participants, including research on identifiable human material or data, should be approved by the EC. Today, concerns over the quality of the EC functions worldwide. There are research globally in this regard but no data are available from Bangladesh. (...) Hence, we conducted a questionnaire based pilot study on knowledge and attitude of EC members on bioethics and structure & function of EC in Bangladesh. (shrink)

Bangladesh continues to experience stubbornly high levels of rural malnutrition amid steady economic growth and poverty reduction. The policy response to tackling malnutrition shows an overwhelmingly technocratic bias, which depoliticizes the broader question of how the agro-food regime is structured. Taking an agrarian and human rights-based approach, this paper argues that rural malnutrition must be analyzed as symptomatic of a deepening agrarian crisis in which the obsession with productivity increases and commercialization overrides people’s democratic right to culturally appropriate, good, (...) nutritious food. Using qualitative insights from a case study of three villages, this research illustrates how agricultural modernization and commercialization reproduce rural malnutrition by degrading local biodiversity and the rural poor’s access to nutrient-rich diets. In so doing, it undermines the official discourse’s simplistic and literal reading of malnutrition as a pathological health condition resulting from the mere absence of certain micronutrients in the human body, and thus questions the adequacy of the proposed solutions. Instead, this research suggests that solving malnutrition in large part involves facilitating the rural poor’s access to nutritious diets through democratizing and reorganizing the agriculture sector in a manner that is eco-friendly and unconstrained by market imperatives. It cautiously advances agroecology and food sovereignty as possible alternatives, while recognizing that overcoming the challenges agrarian class conflict, gender disparity and urban–rural divide pose would not be easy. (shrink)

Purpose This study investigates the impact of open-source software (OSS) on the sustainability of academic library services in Bangladesh. It aims to understand how OSS can address budget constraints, technological demands and the need for enhanced service delivery in these libraries. Design/methodology/approach An in-depth qualitative research approach was used, involving semi-structured interviews with library administrators, IT staff and librarians from various academic institutions across Bangladesh. Findings The study reveals that OSS adoption is primarily driven by financial imperatives and (...) the need for flexible, customizable solutions tailored to specific institutional needs. Key benefits identified include significant cost savings, improved customization and flexibility of services and enhanced community support and collaboration. However, challenges such as a lack of in-house technical expertise, resistance to change among staff and stakeholders and inadequate IT infrastructure impede successful OSS implementation. Practical implications To harness the full potential of OSS, academic libraries must invest in capacity building through targeted training programs, improve IT infrastructure and foster a culture of collaboration and knowledge-sharing within the library community. These strategies are essential to overcoming existing barriers and ensuring long-term sustainability. Originality/value This research contributes to the understanding of OSS’s role in enhancing the sustainability of academic library services. It provides practical recommendations for academic libraries seeking to leverage OSS for improved service delivery and operational efficiency. (shrink)

In 1999, the Bangladesh government introduced the Human Organ Transplantation Act allowing organ transplants from both brain-dead and living-related donors. This Act approved organ donation within family networks, which included immediate family members such as parents, adult children, siblings, uncles, aunts, and spouses. Subsequently, in January 2018, the government amended the 1999 Act to include certain distant relatives, such as grandparents, grandchildren, and first cousins, in the donor lists, addressing the scarcity of donors. Nobody, without these relatives, is legally (...) permitted to donate organs for transplantation in Bangladesh. The focus of this study was to investigate who should donate organs for transplantation in Bangladesh. The ethnographic fieldwork revealed that potential donors are not always available to immediate family members, and even when they are, they might be medically unsuitable for transplants. These considerations influenced the government in the revision of the Act. Secondly, the findings of the study suggest maintaining the current family-based regulations for living organ donation in Bangladesh. Furthermore, the study highlighted a potential consequence: amending the regulation to permit donations to unrelated recipients could significantly amplify the issue of organ selling and buying. While Islam advises Muslims to be compassionate towards all humankind, it also encourages Muslims to prioritize saving the lives of family members. This religious belief limits Muslims from donating organs to family members. (shrink)

Academic supervision is considered an important mechanism to improve the performance of an educational institution. This article aims to investigate the situation of academic supervision in Bangladeshi Government Colleges (GCs).The article, in particular, explores the impacts of academic supervision on Bangladeshi students and teachers in developing their competencies and confidence in postsecondary educational settings. The study was conducted employing thequalitative research method and collecting data from in-depth interviews, secondary published literature, such as books, journal articles etc. The study finds that (...) effective academic supervision considerably helps students achieve their learning progress as well as teachers attain their professionalization in the GCs of Bangladesh. Various challenges exist in higher education in Bangladesh, which include the lack of resources, limited use of educational tools and technology, policy problems, lack of sufficient training and scope of research for teachers, and so on. This article has made several recommendations for improving academic supervision to enhance quality education in the Bangladeshi GCs. Philosophy and Progress, Vol#71-72; No#1-2; Jan-Dec 2022 P 97-128. (shrink)

Non-communicable diseases disproportionately affect low and middle-income countries where nearly three quarters of NCD deaths occur. Bangladesh is also in NCD burden. This cross-sectional study was done on 50 health facilities centres at Gazipur district in Bangladesh from July 2015 to December 2015 to introduce SARA for better monitoring and evaluation of non-communicable diseases health service delivery. The General Service readiness index score was 61.52% refers to the fact that about 62% of all the facilities were ready to (...) provide general services like basic amenities, basic equipment, standard precautions for infection prevention, and diagnostic capacity and essential medicines to the patients. But in case of non-communicable diseases, among all the health facilities 40% had chronic respiratory disease and cardiovascular diseases diagnosis/ management and only 32% had availability of diabetes diagnosis/management. Overall readiness score was 52% in chronic respiratory disease, 73% in cardiovascular disease and 70% in diabetes. Therefore, service availability and readiness of the health facilities to provide NCD related health services were not up to the mark for facing future targets. A full-scale census survey of all the facilities of the study area would give a better understanding of the availability and service readiness. (shrink)

Vaccines are responsible for many global public health successes, such as the eradication of smallpox and significant reductions in other serious infections like diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, polio and measles. However, mass vaccination has also been the subject of various ethical controversies for decades. Several factors need to be considered before any vaccine is deployed at national programme like the potential burden of disease in the country or region, the duration of the protection conferred, herd immunity in addition to individual protection, (...) vaccine-related risks, financing and the logistical feasibility of the large-scale vaccination. Moreover, several ethical dilemmas revolve around authority and mandates for vaccination, informed consent, benefits vs. risks, and disparities in access to vaccination. This review paper aims to elaborate the ethical issues involved in mass vaccination programme and present some additional challenges in the context of a resource-poor settings of public health in Bangladesh. (shrink)

The Human Organ Transplantation Act came into officially force in Bangladesh on April 13, 1999, allowing organ donations from both living and brain-dead donors. The Act was amended by the Parliament on January 8, 2018, with the changes coming into effect shortly afterwards on January 28. The Act was revised to extend a living donor pool from close relatives to include certain other relatives such as grandparents, grandchildren, and first cousins. The Act was also revised to allow individuals to (...) prioritize family members in receiving their organs after their death. The aim of this paper is not to carry out an ethical analysis of the Act as a whole but only to focus on aspects relating to priority access for family members to organs. Despite Islam encouraging Muslims to be sympathetic, and to save the life of any member of humankind, saving the life of a relative through organ donation is even more highly valued. The collective and extended structure of the family impacts on the provisions of the Act that only allows Bangladeshis to legally donate their organs to save the lives of relatives and allows individuals to prioritize family members. Recent progress in the practice of organ transplantation raises a number of ethical dilemmas around the allocation of available organs in the context of organ scarcity. A key purpose of introducing incentive into the system of organ allocation is to increase the number of donations from living relatives and initiation of vital organ donations from brain-dead donors. However, allocation criteria based on a living organ donation incentive system would appear to be unethical because there is no provision in the Act with regard to financial compensation for a distant relative donor’s post-operative care in the absence of healthcare coverage. Receiving organs from a distant relative without giving financial compensation for post-operative care places them in a grave health condition and violates the biomedical principle of non-maleficence. An incentive system around brain-dead donors would appear to be ethical as the amended Act allows individuals to prioritize relatives in receiving their organs after death. This provision is intended to initiate the transplantation of vital organs from brain-dead donors as families might bear the cost of keeping the organs alive for transplantation. Regular reassessment of the impact of the Act is necessary to maximize the donation rate of transplantable organs using ethical means. (shrink)

The present study aims to examine the context of academic dishonesty of research students in a public university setting in Bangladesh. In this regard, the researchers conducted interviews with the concerned authorities of the university, i.e., Chairpersons of the Departments, Deans of the Faculties, Proctor of the University, and Director of Students Guidance and Counselling Cell in order to get an impression about the current practice of academic dishonesty by the students of that university; factors influencing these activities and (...) recommendations to uphold academic integrity among the students. The results showed that though there were several instances of academic integrity violation, negligible actions were taken against them due to the absence of an established policy on academic dishonesty. At the same time, the nonexistence of a course on academic integrity and research ethics in the curriculum is also responsible for this scenario. To mitigate this issue, all the concerned authorities strongly recommended formulating a central policy on academic dishonesty for promoting academic integrity and achieving university ranking success in global competitiveness. (shrink)

The Infectious Diseases Act entered into force officially on 14 November 2018 in Bangladesh. The Act is designed to raise awareness of, prevent, control, and eradicate infectious or communicable diseases to address public health emergencies and reduce health risks. A novel coronavirus disease was first identified in Bangladesh on 8 March 2020, and the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare issued a gazette on 23 March, listing COVID-19 as an infectious disease and addressing COVID-19 as a public health (...) emergency. The gazette empowers the government to monitor the spread of infection. Despite there being an infrastructure of research ethics committees in almost all hospitals in Bangladesh, a lack of such committees in the clinical setting often forces healthcare professionals to allocate scarce healthcare resources to the task. These personnel are often either influenced by materialistic matters or guided by the emergency policies, without reaching a consensus on how to allocate scarce resources in times of need, especially in the time of the COVID-19 pandemic. Ethical dilemmas often arise when a number of patients with COVID-19, especially in poor and middle-class areas, are denied care while elites are prioritized to receive such scarce resources. Resource allocation in healthcare during the COVID-19 pandemic in Bangladesh appears to be unethical and in direct conflict with the biomedical principles of non-maleficence and procedural justice. The findings of this study suggest that the Act needs substantive changes in the stipulation of policy directing hospitals in the provision of resource allocation framework. Furthermore, parliament should produce guidance outlining how to successfully implement the law with the aim of protecting public health in times of emergency, especially the COVID-19 pandemic. (shrink)