October-December 2020
Main Article : Put People First: Mental Health in Bangladesh
Put People First: Mental Health in Bangladesh
A B M Rasheduzzaman, Research Manager, BCCP Published Version
Introduction:
Mental Health is now becoming burning issues in the world which refers to cognitive, behavioral, and emotional well-being. Mental health conditions are one of the major groups of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) with crucial relevance in efforts to control and prevent NCDs. It also has links to cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular and respiratory diseases and other NCDs. Mental health has long been overlooked when NCDs were discussed or seen as being separate. But the synergies across all NCDs including mental health mean it makes sense for governments to address the common risk factors and systems barriers to reduce premature and preventable suffering and death. In alignment with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) target 3.4 which said as; “by 2030, reduce by one third premature mortality from non-communicable diseases through prevention and treatment and promote mental health and well-being”, mental health must be integrated into the response to NCDs.
In 2017, around 792 million people that is one in ten people globally (10.7%) lived with a mental health disorder (Hannan Ritchie and Max Roser 2018). But the year 2020 was special as Covid-19 brought significant changes to the daily lives; new realities of working from home, temporary unemployment, home-schooling of children and social distancing with other family members, friends and colleagues. It became important to take care of our mental, along with the physical health. Mental health, neglected for too long, is crucial to the overall well-being of individuals, societies and countries in the context of Covid-19 must be universally regarded in the perspective of current and in any upcoming pandemic situation.
The UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in his speech in last May, 2020 stressed the cumulative impact of stress, grief, and anxiety. According to him,
“Unless we act now to address the mental health needs associated with the pandemic, there will be enormous long-term consequences for families, communities and societies.”
The country has a high burden of mental health disorders with few mental health services reported in a nationwide survey. According to National Mental Health Survey of Bangladesh 2018-19, nearly 17% of adults in Bangladesh are suffering from mental health issues, where 16.8% are man and 17 % are woman, and among them 92.3% do not seek medical attention. Depression, anxiety and pain or fatigue is the leading causes of the adults’ mental disorders in Bangladesh. The survey also found that 11.6% of the adult male patients and 12.4% of the adult female patients show no interest in seeking treatment and patients with mental illness, are highly stigmatized where average stigma score is 4.5 out of 7 on stigma scale. Moreover, the prevalence of mental disorder has considerably been increased over 2005 towards 2018-19 in Bangladesh.
What is ‘Mental Health’ and ‘Mental Illnesses?
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), mental health is “a state of well-being in which the individual realizes his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to his or her community” A mental illness is an illness that affects the way people think, feel, behave, or interact with others. Mental illnesses have different symptoms that impact peoples’ natural life in different ways. Mental illness includes a range of conditions for which there are standard criteria used to diagnose them, such as depression, anxiety and substance use disorders.
What are the Risk Factors for Mental Health Conditions?
Mental conditions are often determined by the environment and social circumstances in which people live, and their exposure to risk factors. Many of the modifiable factors that influence the likelihood of a person being affected by major physical NCDs (diabetes, cardiovascular disease, respiratory conditions, cancer) also impact on mental health, for example diet, exercise, and use of alcohol and drugs. Everyone has some risk of developing a mental health disorder, no matter their age, sex, income, or ethnicity. Social and financial circumstances, biological factors, and lifestyle choices can all shape a person’s mental health. A large proportion of people with a mental health disorder have more than one condition at a time. It is important to note that good mental health depends on a delicate balance of factors and that several elements of life and the world at large can work together to contribute to disorders. It is caused by a combination of biological, psychological, and environmental factors.
Early Signs and Symptoms of Mental Health:
Though there is no physical test or scan that reliably indicates whether a person has developed a mental illness. However, people should look out for the following as possible signs of a mental health disorder: • withdrawing from friends, family, and colleagues • avoiding activities that they would normally enjoy • sleeping too much or too little • eating too much or too little • feeling hopeless • having consistently low energy • using mood-altering substances, including alcohol and nicotine, more frequently • displaying negative emotions • being confused • being unable to complete daily tasks, such as getting to work or cooking a meal • having persistent thoughts or memories that reappear regularly • thinking of causing physical harm to themselves or others • hearing voices • experiencing delusions In our daily life, in the early stage most of the family members ignore noticing the changes of individual family members behavior; most of the time overlooked.
Mental Health Situation in Bangladesh
Bangladesh had an old mental health policy named the Lunacy Act that was enacted and put in place in 1912 when the country was still a British colony (1757-1947) and in the post independent era it amended the policy in 1987 by replacing the term “lunacy” to ‘mental illness,’ updating the relevant definitions, establishing new rules for licensing psychiatric hospitals, and developing procedures governing the practice of admitting and discharging people with mental illnesses.
WHO declared ‘year of mental health’ in 2001 and the theme of the 2001 World Health Report was mental health and its 10 recommendations have been positively received by all Member States. As a consequence, in 2006 Bangladesh adopted a mental health policy, strategy and plan as part of its effort in promoting surveillance and prevention of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs). In the same year strategy and work plan for community based mental activities also approved (WHO and MoHFW, 2006). The policy recommended a community-based approach in addressing all mental health issues including the provision of basic mental health services as part of the primary health care system (WHO and MOHFW, 2006). Bangladesh passed a new Mental Health Act in 2018, which replaced the outdated 105-year-old Lunacy Act, 1912.
In Bangladesh the level of awareness of and medical care sought for mental illness is very low. Besides there is significant social stigma attached to mental illness that has severe impact on the health seeking behavior of people suffering from psychosocial or mental illness. Social stigma, on the one hand, prevents them from seeking care and, on the other, makes them silently suffer from social isolation and discrimination. Consequently, morbidity from psychiatric illnesses remains high and a seldom understood and/or recognized public health problem in Bangladesh. Bangladesh does not have a specific and robust mental health policy of its own. Earlier policies and action plan integrated mental health disorders within the spectrum of non-communicable diseases, which was insufficient to ensure optimum care to prevent, diagnose, treat, and rehabilitate mental disorders in a densely populated country, such as Bangladesh.
Why Communication is Important for Mental Health?
In Bangladesh, 4th HPNSDP program identified several programmatic areas; capacity development of primary health care physicians, nurses and health workers on mental health, training of religious leaders, traditional healers, & faith healers of model upazilla, mass awareness & coordination meetings about mental health with health work force, establishing a "Help Hotline" for 24 hours emergency help in National Institute of Mental Health, Dhaka, advocacy for updating course curriculum in MBBS with the inclusion of required topics in psychiatry. On the other hand, education and advocacy is one of the four strategic priorities of mhGAP (WHO, 2002) and many countries adopt this to increase the knowledge of the community and stakeholders for mental health. Almost 40% people of Bangladesh live in urban area and severely affected due to covid-19 where most of the social, environmental and psychological factors of mental health are visible and in the new normal situation more attention need for mental health.
Breaking the wall of Social Stigma, beliefs related Mental Health: Mental illnesses are highly stigmatized around the world. There is significant social stigma and beliefs in Bangladesh attached to mental illness that has severe influence on the health seeking behavior of people suffering from psychosocial or other mental illness. So the level of awareness of medical care sought for mental illness is very low in rate. It is believed in Bangladesh that when an individual suffer from any mental illness that has been caused by sins of their parents. This is a frequent belief in villages and low educated people in the urban areas. As mental illness has huge stigma, so mentally ill people often unable to get a work, socialize and marry. Even it is difficult for the family members of a mentally ill person to marry, particularly for the female in the household. Social stigma prevents mentally ill person from seeking care and makes them silently suffer from social isolation and discrimination. Without this there are lack of medical services in rural and remote settings and also gap in knowledge about mental health. So villagers often become traditional healers. Even educated people go to traditional healer if they don’t receive a satisfactory service from medical services. Religious leaders are treated people with mental illness. They give enchained oil or water, tabiz (metal container with written verse from the holy quran or other religious book). On the other hand, traditional healers beat and punish the mentally ill person in different ways to get rid of “evil spirit”. The traditional healer might try to exorcise the Jinn (spirits) with holy water and readings verse from the Quran. People also use ayurvedic or homeopathy medicine to treat the ill person
Inform and educate people ‘mental health problem is not a sin, it’s a disease: There exist many misconceptions among the general public, politicians and even professionals regarding the concept of mental health. This is due to the fact that mental health is in many ways undervalued in our societies. The concept is often confused with severe mental disorders and associated with societal stigma and negative attitudes. It is also often the case that curative medicine focusing on health problems attracts more attention than public health questions of prevention and, even more so, of promotion. The positive value of mental health, contributing to our well-being, quality of life and creativity as well as to social capital, is not always seen.
Engage community stakeholders and create awareness: Mental health as a concept reflects the equilibrium between the individual and the environment in a broad sense. Mental health and well-being are issues of everyday life; in families, in schools, on streets and in workplaces. Mental health, social integration and productivity are linked: well-functioning groups, societies, organizations and workplaces are not only healthier but also more effective and productive. However, the main reason for promoting good mental health is its great intrinsic value. To inform people, extensive awareness program involving electronic and printing media, distribution of Education and Communication materials, extensive training of PHC staffs, religious leaders and teachers is needed.
Training Need Assessment for Medical Officer at Primary Healthcare to Achieve SDG
Training Need Assessment for Medical Officer at Primary Healthcare to Achieve SDG and Universal Health Coverage in Bangladesh- BMRC Project
To achieve Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) and Universal Health Coverage (UHC), the Government of Bangladesh with its political commitment, recruit 4443 doctors in 2019 and 2000 in early 2020 to strengthen the Primary Health Care (PHC) service delivery and planning to increase the service coverage with medical professionals. Most of the MOs are working in PHC without basic training on services. Considering the above context, Bangladesh Medical Research Council (BMRC) appointed Bangladesh Center for Communication Programs (BCCP) to conduct a study “Training Need Assessment for Newly Recruited Medical Officers at PHC to Achieve SDG and Universal Health Coverage (UHC)” on February 23, 2020. The objective of the Training Needs Assessment is to explore training needs of the newly recruited medical officers through assessing their knowledge and skills gap when working in primary healthcare setup to achieve SDGs and UHC data. The study was cross sectional and adopted a Hennessey-Hickes competency assessment guideline to assess the level of competency of newly recruited MOs and earlier BCS recruited MOs and WHO SARA guideline to assess the PHC facility. It also used a KAP assessment questionnaire to assess understandings of the MOs about SDGs and UHC, Key Informants Interview (KII) and competency gap analysis workshop. A total number of 1139 interview conducted with doctors among which 911 newly recruited MOs and 228 earlier recruited MOs from 114 Upazila of 16 districts from 8 divisions of Bangladesh. Along with this 31 KII with UH&FPO, CS, DGHS Directors, Policy Experts and two skills gap analysis workshops with earlier BCS MOs was conducted to get qualitative data.
The study team comprises of Dr. Nazneen Akhter, Principal Investigators (PI); Dr. Nazrul Haque, Co-PI; Mr. ABM Rasheduzzaman, Qualitative Data Analyst and Mr. H. M. Miraz Mahmud, Quantitative data analyst. We believe that the study findings will be helpful to take policy decision regarding strengthening the capacity development programs of MOs working in the primary health care settings.
Developing communication materials in emergency respond settings
Developing communication materials in emergency respond settings
Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (SEA) can occur in any humanitarian or development context and is a particular risk in emergency contexts. The risks presented by the unprecedented volume of new arrivals of Rohingya added to the existing refugee population, the affected host population in Cox’s Bazar, and the massive deployment of staff to respond to the Rohingya refugee crisis is enormous.
The International Council of Voluntary Agencies (ICVA) is a global network with a secretariat in Geneva. ICVA works to support effective projects and strengthened cooperation between all actors in humanitarian assistance. Raising community-awareness on the risks of sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA), ICVA engaged BCCP to undertake a set of outreach and communication materials development.
BCCP is carrying out developing a set of materials to create community awareness on protection from Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (PSEA) in the Rohingya Camps in Cox’s Bazar. The materials will be adopted and developed in English, Bengali and Rohingya Language targeting 4 major types of audiences of adults both women and men, children and parents, people with disability and influential of the Rohingya community.
On November11, 2020 a message and materials development workshop took place at Hotel Beach Way, Cox’s Bazar. A total of 12 participants attended the workshop. Out of 12 participants 9 were from PSEA network. Mr. Sayed Rashed Bin Jamal, PSEA Coordinator in-Charge was also present in the workshop and gave his valuable feedback about the materials development.
Based on the workshop findings, now BCCP is processing to develop a set of materials considering the following 4 broad categories: 1. Awareness creating materials on SEA: a. A set of 4 small video clips with 1-minute animation b. Pictorial card for children c. A set of 4 awareness raising 2. Promotion of Referral system: a. A generic leaflet b. Directional signboard on referral linkage 3. Community Engagement tools: a. Flip chart to communicate in the community b. Facilitators guide 4. Others: a. Billboard promoting an emergency number
Developing the messages, the current practices & behavior of the Rohingya people, their social context, information needs and currently available messages in the camp is considered. All materials will be “open source” and publicly available for the benefit of other humanitarian actors and communities.
It is expected, awareness on reporting channel need to be increased with proper materials designed, developed, and distributed to all concerned.
Making positive differences Student Leadership Development Workshop (SLDW) Reawakened
Making positive differences
Student Leadership Development Workshop (SLDW) Reawakened
To strengthen the connection among the student and police as well as encouraging leadership and capacity building of the university students, the ‘Student Leadership Development Workshop’ has again come into being. The program will yet again establish a mutually respectful partnership between police and the students. Student Leadership Development Workshops (SLDW) aims to shape up in a way where the university students along with their organization can play a key role in preventing extremism and promote peace.
The SLD Workshop in 2020-2021 phase will be held in Rajshahi. Bangladesh Center for Communication Programs (BCCP) has been privileged with the opportunity to work again with SLDW program and they’re positive to bring a new look in this phase that will enhance the appeal of the program. Students, police, and other stakeholders affiliated with the SLDW program has been enthusiastic and willing to participate in the workshop despite the prevailing COVID-19 situation. Major activities of the project including outreach events like roundtable discussion, Focus Group Discussion, Workshops, Capstone Seminar will strictly follow the government health protocol in the time of initiation.
The program has selected three institutions in this phase namely Rajshahi University of Science & Technology, University of Rajshahi and Rajshahi College. Student registration process in this period is operating online for the impact of COVID 19 pandemic. Because of the previous reputation of SLD workshops, participants are simultaneously participating in the online registration process in order to take part in the workshop and the response is very much visible.
Massive student registration response, successful conduction of the pre–program FGD and Counter Violent Extremism Roundtable Discussion indicates that the program will hopefully produce more effective outcome in the future. The best effort is being put to prepare for the workshop, and BCCP is positive to conduct the next year’s upcoming workshop in a smooth and entertaining manner.
The theme-based workshops will not only provide the participants with knowledge and information but will also enlighten them and foster a positive change. The positive learning can be used for development as well as provide them with knowledge and guidance on how they can start by correcting themselves by being a good citizen prior to change the world. After all youths are our best bet to prevent violent extremism and secure a happy future for all the dwellers on earth.
Unmask Tobacco Industry Interferences at the University Campuses
Unmask Tobacco Industry Interferences at the University Campuses
Different multi-national tobacco industries do aggressive brand promotion activities targeting the educational institutions in Bangladesh bypassing the Tobacco Product Usage (Control) Act 2005. The industries do such activities disguising the name of “talent hunt” and sometime the university authorities do not aware of their ill motivation. Keeping the prevailing situation, the Bangladesh Center for Communication Programs (BCCP) in collaboration with the Bangladesh Tobacco Control Research Network (BTCRN) and Leaders in Tobacco Control Alumni Association has started undertaking a series of University-based Lecture Program on Tobacco Control.
The 3rd University-based Lecture Program on Tobacco Control was organized at the Southeast University on November 26, 2020. More than hundred participants including the students, faculties and administrative staff members of the university attended the program. The program was on Zoom Cloud Meetings with live broadcast on Facebook.
Prof. Dr. AFM Mafizul Islam Vice Chancellor, Southeast University attended the program as the Chief Guest while Prof. Dr. Nawzia Yasmin, President, BTCRN attended the program as the Chairperson. Renowned tobacco control experts from the Bloomberg Initiative partner and grantee organizations made brief presentations on different tobacco control issues including Smoking and Tobacco Products Usage (Control) Act, 2005 and its Amendment 2013; smokers have higher risk of severe disease and death from COVID-19; tobacco industry interferences targeting educational institutions; and Foundation for Smoke-free World- an example of the latest effort by the Philip Morris International. An interactive question/answer session was held in between the presentations.
The 4th University-based Lecture Program on Tobacco Control was organized at the Daffodil International University, Dhaka on December 12, 2020. More than hundred participants including the students, faculties and administrative staff members of the university attended the program. The program was organized on “Google Meet”.
Ms. Kazi Zebunnessa Begum, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare attended the program as the Chief Guest while Professor Dr. S.M. Mahbub Ul Haque Majumder, Pro-Vice Chancellor and Vice Chancellor (In Charge), Daffodil International University attended the program as the Chairperson. Experts from in-country BI partners, grantees, BTCRN and Leaders in Tobacco Control Alumni Association attended the program as speakers.
As an immediate outcome of program, the membership-base of BTCRN has increased significantly. The membership has increased from 42 to 91. Moe members will be joining from the Southeast University and Daffodil University soon. The Lecture Program is also contributing to popularize BTCRN in Bangladesh.
IEM unit of DGFP demonstrated way of better coordination and utilization
IEM unit of DGFP demonstrated way of better coordination and utilization of resources through their joint OP planning initiatives and organize workshop
A joint IEC OP planning workshop initiated by the IEM unit of DGFP have modelled the way of better utilization of resources by bringing their SBCC needs to promote through IEC OP. This joint OP planning workshop was attended by other units of DGFP including NNS and BHE. It also involved DPs and NGOs for their suggestion and identify priority FP related SBCC programs to recommend adding with planned IEC OP program activities for 2020-2021.
This workshop was held on October 13, 2020 in the conference room of IEM and a total of 31 participants form the abovementioned units and organizations attended it. The DGFP unit representation were made from the IEM, CCSDP, MCH, FPFSD, Planning, Logistics and Supplies & Administration. The DGHS representations were made from the BHE and NNS while NGO/DP representations were from MSCS, Save the Children, BBC Media Action, Sukhi Jibon and UNFPA. Bangladesh Betar were also represented and participated in this workshop. The workshop was inaugurated by Ms. Shahan ara Banu, DG, DGFP while other high officials of DGFP and MoHFW had also attended this session includes; Mr. Hemayet Hossain, Director-Admn., Mr. Abdus Salam Khan, Joint Secretary-ME&FW, MoHFW, Dr. Moinuddin Ahmed, Director-CCSDP, Dr. Sarwar Bari, Director-FPFSD, Mr. Khan Md. Rezaul Karim, Director-MIS, Ms. Selina Akter, Director-Planning and Ms. Ratna Talukder, Director- Logistics & Supplies. Dr. Ashrafunnesa, Director-IEM chaired this opening session.
In her opening remarks the Director General expressed her happiness to continue service deliveries during the lockdown period due to Covid-19, she however, urged upon IEM to continue IEM effort for community level information about the availability of FP services. She hoped that other GoB units and NGOs will bring their SBCC programs get coordinated with the IEM OP for maximizing utilization of resources. In his inaugural remarks Mr. Abdus Salam Khan, Joint Secretary-ME&FW, MoHFW commented that IEM’s OP works as a cross-cutting to raise awareness, promoting behavior and generate demand for Family Planning. He hoped for success of this workshop and thanked Ujjiban to provide TA in planning and facilitating this workshop.
In the working session of the workshop Mr. Shafiqur Rahman of Ujjiban made a presentation as tone setting before the workshop modalities followed by group works and recommendations had get started. The presentation highlighted 3 key issues to consider while recommend planning of and coordinating with the IEM OP as;
- Consider providers promotion alongside promote generating demand of services for the service recipients - Consider marketing approach for service promotion while undertaking the social approach of marketing in to consideration - Consider strategic planning steps while planning and recommending activities to get coordinated and add with the IEM OP.
The group work went on with 3 broad groups to work under FPFSD, CCSDP and MCRAH. Key recommendations under these three groups made as; FP-FSD
- Multi-media approaches to generate demand and reduce unmet need - Provide gift box for the NWCs to mobilize them with the small family norms - Special promotion drives for the RMG workers - Inform service seekers about the screening points of FP services - Introduce mobile apps for FP services.
CCSDP
- TVC on the LAPM methods - Web series on LAPM included with quiz competition - Couple assembly with ideal couples having 1-2 childs for small family promotions and modelling - SBCC print materials with social media contents for promotion of LAPM services - Capacity building training for the service providers.
MCRAH
- Promote ANC and PNC service deliveries includes information on required behavior during Covid-19 - Provide information and messaging on maternal, child and adolescent health related model practices includes information on required behavior during Covid-19
After 3 groups made their presentations the workshop ended with the closing remarks of the Director-FPFSD. He termed this workshop as an example of a good coordination initiatives which is expected to bring synergy in the program impact. Mentioning the combination of theoretical and practical exercise he thanked Ujjiban for bringing this up as workshop methodology.
GTFs can ensure effective public spending
GTFs can ensure effective public spending
Speakers at a workshop facilitated by BCCP in Netrokona
Speakers at a workshop on Government-Tenderers’ Forum (GTF) in Netrokona on October 22, 2020 emphasized on effective implementation of public procurement process including e-GP for ensuring sustainable development.
The workshop was held at the conference room of the Deputy Commissioner’s office in the district. The Central Procurement Technical Unit (CPTU) of the Implementation Monitoring Evaluation Division (IMED) under the Ministry of Planning organized the workshop.
Bangladesh Center for Communication Programs (BCCP), as a Strategic Behavior Change Communication partner of Digitizing Implementation Monitoring and Public Procurement Project (DIMAPPP) of the CPTU financed by the World Bank, organized the workshop as part of the move of organizing similar workshops in all districts across the country. Pradip Ranjan Chakraborty, Secretary, IMED, Ministry of Planning spoke at the workshop as the chief guest. Mohammed Shoheler Rahman Chowdhury, Director General (Additional Secretary), CPTU, IMED, Ministry of Planning, spoke as special guest.
Kazi Md. Abdur Rahman, Deputy Commissioner and District Magistrate, Netrokona presided over the workshop. Khadija Bilkis, Senior Deputy Director, BCCP and Mohammad Salah Uddin, Deputy Director and Senior Assistant Secretary, CPTU, spoke at the workshop.
Pradip Ranjan Chakraborty said, the activities through e-GP was uninterrupted even during the lockdown situation due to Covid-19 as procurement was conducted following some specialized guidance.
The volume of procurement, both in number and value, did not fall during the pandemic situation, Pradip Ranjan Chakraborty said, adding: “The government is sincerely working to take development programs ahead and for this the meetings of the Executive Committee of National Economic Council (ECNEC) are held regularly even during the Covid-19 period.”
There is a wrong perception among others about CPTU, he mentioned adding, people often hold DG of CPTU or IMED responsible if there is any negligence in review panel while settling procurement related disputes. For this, he urged CPTU to remain more alert.
For maintaining smooth functioning, transparency and accountability of public procurement process, IMED secretary said: “Ensure security and preserve your own password so that procurement related information is not leaked.” Mohammed Shoheler Rahman Chowdhury said, e-GP functioned well without any disruption even for a single day during the lockdown period due to Covid-19. So far, 56 ministries have come under e-GP network and over 77,000 tenderers have been registered with the system. For this, it has received due appreciation from the World Bank, he added.
Highlighting the features of the system he said, under e-GP, all required procedures from e-Tendering to e-Contract and management are now conducted through this unique electronic platform, he added.
“Around 73 percent procurement is now conducted through e-GP,” he said mentioning that about Taka 2 lakh 55 thousand crore is spent through e-GP annually, which is very much encouraging.
So far, the number of tender participations through e-GP totaled to 75 lakhs valued at Taka 429,211 thousand crore, he said adding, CPTU is moving towards e-tender management and it is working for that purpose.
Tender database has been installed and it would start functioning from October 25, 2020. Besides, work is in progress to make e-GP system more secured. He also mentioned that tenderers data base will include information of tenderers experience.
Citizen portal has already been developed and this would remain open for all citizens, said DG of the CPTU adding, “We are working for ensuring sustainable procurement. Social issues would be considered in procurement, he added. CPTU has also initiated working on sustainable procurement issues which will consider the social issues in procurement.
He suggested tenderers for not sharing their respective ID passwords with others for their security. “Conduct all tender related tasks by your own and change your ID password every often,” he suggested.
Highlighting the features of the system he said, under e-GP, all required procedures from e-Tendering to e-Contract and management are now conducted through this unique electronic platform, he added.
Mohammad Salah Uddin, Deputy Director and Senior Assistant Secretary, CPTU said, this workshop is a platform for mutual understanding among procuring entities and tenderers which will pave a passage for all concerned engaged in public procurement for exchanging views and opinion.
GTF committee in Netrokona was established in 2016 that has given an opportunity for PEs and tenderers for establishing mutual understanding through exchanging knowledge. This, as a professional group, will help them work as a community. GTF is a model designed as per the reforms of public procurement rules. A total of 64 GTFs have been established in 64 districts across the country where the members, either officially or unofficially, hold discussions among themselves. They work as per the terms of reference which helps reduce the distances between the procuring entities and the tenderers. GTFs have removed division lines and established as a single identity as a stakeholder or community engaged in procurement. Through this workshop, the GTF committee in Netrokona will gain momentum.
Representatives from various procuring entities and a good number of tenderers participated at the workshop organized under DIMAPPP by CPTU and or by BCCP. A power point presentation on GTF was made by BCCP. The participants exchanged views, ideas and experiences relating to public procurement including e-GP and evaluated progress of activities of the Forum.
The CPTU has been implementing DIMAPPP with support from World Bank to improve public procurement performance and enhance capacity for implementation monitoring of development programs and projects through digitization.
Ensure good practices in public procurement to boost growth
Ensure good practices in public procurement to boost growth
GTF workshop held in Munshiganj
Proper implementation of development projects will generate employment in the country, reduce poverty and increase the rate of economic growth. The role of public procurement in smooth implementation of the project is very vital. Expenditure in ADP projects is increasing every year. So, it is important to establish good governance in public procurement.
Good governance will be established if proper monitoring of procurement laws and regulations and its efficient and timely delivery is done. For this, it is important to establish a good relationship between the buyer and the bidder in the light of mutual trust and rules.
Pradeep Ranjan Chakraborty, Secretary, Implementation, Monitoring and Evaluation Division (IMED), Ministry of Planning, said this while addressing a workshop of Government-Tenderers’ Forum (GTF) in Munshiganj on Sunday as the chief guest. Director General of Central Procurement Technical Unit (CPTU) under IMED Md. Shoheler Rahman Chowdhury spoke as the special guest. Munshiganj Deputy Commissioner Md. Moniruzzaman Talukder presided over the GTF workshop.
Under CPTU's Digitizing Implementation Monitoring and Public Procurement Project (DIMAPP) with the support of World Bank, Bangladesh Center for Communication Programs (BCCP) arranged the workshop where Officials of procuring entities, bidders of Munshiganj, representatives of banks and civil society and media were present. Senior Deputy Director of BCCP Khadija Bilkis, and Deputy Director and Senior Assistant Secretary of the CPTU Mohammed Salah Uddin spoke at the workshop.
Pradeep Ranjan Chakraborty said, "We will ensure proper use of money in government procurement. People have the right to know about use of their money. We are giving them information about public procurement. CPTU has launched citizen portal on public procurement. At present, e-GP has made government procurement easier and faster.
Highlighting the importance of government procurement in achieving the SDG 2030 target, he said sustainability of public procurement is needed as it is mentioned in the ongoing SDGs. That is why proper implementation of PPR, and full implementation of e-GP is essential. He said the use of e-GP is growing rapidly. At present, 80 percent of procurement is made through e-GP. Now a database of e-contract management and registered bidders is being created.
CPTU Director General Md. Shoheler Rahman Chowdhury said that standard implementation of government procurement agreement is a big challenge nowadays. We need to identify the problem and take action to overcome those. That is why we have also engaged local level citizens. We hope the procuring entities will ensure receiving of quality works while the tenderers will implement it as per the demand by maintaining the standards. In the last 10 years, we have brought major reforms in public procurement. One of these is digitization of procurement which we call e-GP. E-GP has resulted in increased efficiency, transparency, and competition in public procurement. But there are also challenges. He requested each of the bidders to submit tenders by oneself to protect privacy. We are now offering e-GP training for registered bidders, he said adding,” We have launched Citizen Portal on Public Procurement to inform everyone about procurement.
Mentioning that GTF is common platform for bidders and buyers, he said, its aim is to establish professional relationships through dialogue among themselves at the local level and create a sustainable procuring environment. E-GP and GTF workshops are being organized in 64 districts through the consulting firm BCCP.
MoHFW is continuing their effort for developing a unified school health education program
MoHFW is continuing their effort for developing a unified school health education program to uniformly using by the entire units under the ministry
As part of continued effort of the MoHFW to develop a unified school health education program it organized a workshop to capture the developments made after the first meeting of the Coordination Committee for the Development and Implementation of the School Health Education Package (SHEP) held last month that finalized the topics with sub-topics and content titles of the SHEP and conferred HPN unit wise responsibilities to detail out the contents of the SHEP. A number of 17 content heads with sub-topics was finalized in that meeting.
This workshop was on presenting and review of the content details and consider adding if there is any need of further content(s). The workshop was held on October 28, 2020 in the conference room of IEM, DGFP attended by the LHEP, CDC, NCDC and MNCAH units of DGHS while MCH and IEM units of DGFP had attended it. Participants from the allied ministries include; LGRD&C-LGD, MoE-TMED and MoRA. The workshop was chaired by Mr. Nitish Chandra Sarker, Additional Secretary-Population, Family Welfare & Law of the FW & ME Division of MoHFW and Chairperson of the Coordination Committee for the Development and Implementation of SHEP. The workshop was initiated with a brief overview of the progresses of the content development by units was made by Mr. Saiful Islam, Member-Secretary of this Coordination Committee and Deputy Secretary, PH-2 of the HSD of MoHFW. On his request the Chairperson of this committee pointed out two issues at this stage:
- The HPN units require allocating funds from their respective OPs for the development and production of the SHEP orientation curriculum. - We need to consider the language, using of sensitive words and terminology that would propose for using in the curriculum as audiences would be the non-adult school students.
Before attendees break for working on further detailing out of the contents, Mr. Dipak Kanti Mazumder and Mr. Shafiqur Rahman of Ujjiban made two presentations respectively on the content details so far been worked out and received from the HPN units; and the principle of developing a curriculum. The four groups then started further detailing out of the contents on 17 content heads with numbers of sub-topics and further detailing out works over so far been made at the units prior to this workshop.
After four groups accomplished progresses over the 17 topics during the stipulated time of the workshop they made a presentation in the plenary. The four groups made their presentation in the following manners:
Group-1: Adolescent and Reproductive Health covering session number 1, 2, 6 and 7 Group-2: Food, Nutrition, Safe Water, Sanitation and others covering session 3, 4 and 5 Group-3: Child Marriage, Gender and others covering session 8, 9 and 10 Group-4: CDC, NCDC, PHC and others covering session from 11-17
The groups identified one important topic and recommended to add it in the SHEP curriculum as; Population and Family Planning. In the concluding session the Chairperson presented an SHEP development schedule to follow by the members of the committee and provided an indication of necessary fund allocation under certain development expense heads from the OPs. He expressed his happiness over the progresses so far been made of developing the SHEP and thanked Ujjiban for their continuous and timely TA support for MoHFW and HPN unit’s SBCC interventions.
SBCC National Steering Committee
SBCC National Steering Committee is bringing up the importance and mainstreaming of coordination across MoHFW inter-divisional and inter-directorate to better SBCC planning and implementation
HPN Comprehensive SBCC strategy really bringing its impact over mainstreaming SBCC program coordination across inter-divisional and inter-directorate planning and implementation of SBCC activities. The SBCC coordination has now been institutionalized through functionality of the 5-tier national level committees and conducting of meetings at the ministry and directorates.
In continuation of mainstreaming SBCC program coordination, the second meeting of the National Steering Committee for the implementation of HPN SBCC Strategy had a good display of such functionality of the program coordination when it met on October 20, 2020 being Mr. Md. Abdul Mannan, Secretary, HSD, MoHFW as Chair and Mr. Md. Ali Noor, Secretary, ME & FWD as Co-chair. The Additional Secretaries from both of these divisions of the MoHFW were also present. The Directorates under the MoHFW represents in this meeting were DGFP, DG-NIPORT, LD-IEM, LD-NNS, LD-LHEP and Chief-BHE. In addition to other MoHFW officials, this meeting was also represented by the MoI, Bangladesh Betar, UNFPA and Ujjiban officials. This meeting was attended by a total of 24 of such officials mentioned above.
With the facilitation by Ms. Nilufar Nazneen, Joint Secretary-PH, HSD, MoHFW; this meeting had a good level of interactions over few issues as; - HPN SBCC cell to establish at the MoHFW to further bringing upon momentum in the SCCC program planning and implementation - Defining of the Best Practices and the holding of a national level fair on the 14 of the Best Practices so far been received from GoB and NGOs programs
- Resolving the issues related to the assumed duplication of HPN activities being conducted by the MoLGRDC in the City Corporations and selected municipalities
- MoHFW circular on the SBCC coordination committees will require revision as there were changes in the portfolio of few of the ministry level officials
- Review of the Annual SBCC Monitoring Report and decision for its publication
- Review and approval of the Leadership and Coordination curriculum and holding of the ToT.
After a threadbare discussion, participants comment and expressed views; the meeting came up with the following decisions:
The Public Health-2 section of the MoHFW will undertake necessary initiatives in establishing the HPN SBCC cell at the MoHFW A Best Practice/Success Story fair be held virtually during the month of November and an e-magazine will be published in this occasion The cascaded model of Leadership and Coordination curriculum has been approved and ToT be held within a shortest possible time A revised GoB circular will be issued on the SBCC coordination committees to incorporate changes in the portfolio of few of the ministry level officials Annual SBCC Monitoring Report 2014-2019 will be published with an immediate effect A 3-member committee comprised of the Additional Secretary, Planning Wing, HSD, MoHFW; DGFP and LD-NNS will review the control and management of HPN activities conducted by the MoLGRDC and its impact in the City Corporations and selected municipalities to report back to both of the Secretaries of HSD and ME & FW, MoHFW.
At the end, the Chairperson of the meeting thanked the development partners including USAID for their support to the HPN activities in Bangladesh. He also thanked Ujjiban SBCC project for their continuous TA support to the MoHFW and the HPN directorates.
More media focus to stop child labor in dried fish sector is essential
More media focus to stop child labor in dried fish sector is essential
The Prothom Alo – BCCP virtual roundtable on ‘Seeking ways to end child labor in the dried fish processing industry’ organized jointly by the Bangladesh Centre for Communication Programs (BCCP) and Prothom Alo, with support from Winrock International’s CLIMB project laid emphasize on strong integrated efforts of all quarters to taking effective move to bring end to child labor in the sector. The roundtable was organized on November 30, 2020 as the Climb project eyes at mentoring the media – both local and national, as there is unavailable information about Child Labor (CL) situation in Dried Fish Sector (DFS) in Bangladesh.
With this aim, BCCP has been working with the project as the media and communication partner for inspiring and encouraging journalists for enhancing the media attention for increasing the number of publications of news on the issue.
In the introductory speech, Abdul Quayum, Associate Editor, Prothom Alo said, children are commonly used in the dried fish processing industry. The owners of these industries are alerted in advance if any inspection is to be carried out and temporarily remove the children from their processing plants. The media carries reports on such matter in a bid to eliminate child labor.
Mohammad Nurun Nabi, Associate Professor, Department of Economics, University of Chattogram discussed about contemporary issues of CL in DFS in Bangladesh. In his research paper, he showed that the dried fish processing industry was most extensive in Cox’s Bazar sadar and Maheskhali upazilas and 93% of the dried fish, known as shutki, was produced in the Nazirtek ‘shutkipalli’ or dried fish zone.
Around 14,366 workers were employed in this industry, 20% of whom were children, 63% women and the rest, men. Of the child workers, 41% were under 14 years of age, and 59% between 14 and 17. Also, 72% of these child workers were girls. A total of 461 child workers were interviewed for the study.
The children come from the families who had settled around the dried fish zone, having been displaced from their homes by river erosion and poverty, he said.
As boys could find numerous other jobs, it was the girls who mostly came to this industry. The industry owners say, women are reluctant to work unless their children were employed too and so they were obliged to take on child labor. Children in the dried fish processing industry were subject to physical and sexual abuse.
While giving the view of Bangladesh Government on the issue, Dr. Mostafizur Rahman, Joint Inspector General, Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments (DIFE), Ministry of Labor and Employment said, the government has a target to end hazardous child labor by 2021 and to end all child labor by 2025. There should be no workplace for children. The dried fish processing industry had not been on the list of hazardous labor so long. It is now being included in the list of six sectors being added to the list. This will soon be published as a gazette. Executive Director of Incidin Bangladesh AKM Masud Ali said, reforms must be made at a policymaking level to end hazardous child labor. Child labor must be brought down to zero. The government has taken initiative to include the dried fish processing industry on the list of hazardous industries. But it will be useless unless priority is now given to end child labor in this sector.
Speaking as the chief guest, Advocate Salma Ali, President, Bangladesh National Woman Lawyers’ Association (BNWLA), Human Rights Defender and Women’s Rights Activist, and Civil Society Representative said, research and media reports are provided as evidence in the case of any issue including child labor.
Based on this, legal assistance and advice can be given to resolve the problem. More media engagement is essential to ensure an effective and positive result to end child labor in dried fish sector and stop their abuse.
Director and CEO of BCCP Mohammad Shahjahan said, strategic communication was essential in ending hazardous child labor. This required a target to be fixed. Ending child labor involved a lot of challenges and so the matter needed to be understood by all involved, including the children, the parents, the industry owners and the policymakers.
Project Director of CLIMB AHM Zaman Khan said, the economic aspect is the main obstacle to end child labor. Profits were involved in the dried fish processing industry. Employing children meant lower wages and higher profits in the competitive market. That is why child labor has been continued. It is important for the government to include the issue of child labor in the five-year plan.
While presenting keynote paper, Md. Tanvir Sharif, Civic Engagement & Capacity Development Specialist, Winrock International said, the children are falling ill, working in the unhealthy environment of the fish processing industry. They work for 8 to 9 hours under the direct sun. They develop sores on their hands, working with water throughout the day.
In his welcome speech, Abu Hasib Mostafa Jamal, Team Leader, BCCP CLIMB/WI project, and Assistant Director (Program), BCCP said, many children are obliged to work in unhealthy environments due to poverty.
Speakers emphasized on more media engagement as it is very much needed for an effective and positive result to bring end to child labor in DFS. For this, wider and detail workplan is needed to bring attention of the media towards the issue. Besides, a long-term plan for educating the media people for working to reduce the gaps in information about the intensity of child labor in DFS is essential, they suggested.
BCCP STAR OF THE MONTH
BCCP STAR OF THE MONTH
Recognition helps employees seeing that their organization values them and their contributions to the success of their organization have been acknowledged. This is particularly key when organizations grow or change. It helps employees build a sense of security which increases their ownership to the organization that contributed motivating them to continue great work. Employee recognition is important for an organization as it increases the individual level of productivity at work, reduces the employee turnover, increases client satisfaction, enhances team efforts, motivate certain behaviors amongst member of staff and all of these have final impact on building organizational images and attaining program successes.
As a strategic communication organization, BCCP evaluates each staff applying 360 degree approach each year. It became a constant process of recording individual staff monograph valuing their level of effort that contributed to organizational successes. But to vibrate the individual good practices and examples of good work to bring forward, BCCP has introduced acknowledging the best performer of the month from July 2020 as “BCCP Star of the Month”. This process has been started from July 2020 that find out 6 STARS during the last 6 months.
Israt Sultana for July 2020
She is passionate to leverage and/or combine her ICT knowledge to develop and update community capacity to learn and utilize strategic communication principles and practices by providing a robust and sustainable network broadly relying on virtual platform supported by face to face meetings. She is working as Senior Program Officer (Community Engagement & ICT) as ICT Expert in BCCP. She is an expert in mHealth and eHealth applications, digital marketing and in managing social/professional media platform.
Mohammad Shamimul Islam for August 2020
As an Assistant Director Mr. Islam is leading BCCP’s Tobacco Control Program and is focusing on program design, development, management, coordination and networking. Working with the social and development sector, he has been organizing and facilitating capacity building programs in leadership skills, development and utilization of messages and materials, and effective presentation development and facilitation skills. Mr. Islam has also been leading the Tobacco Control Seed Research Grant Program to build research capacity especially among the young researchers as well as increasing the local evidence base through mentoring programs.
Abu Hasib Mostafa Jamal for September 2020
A development communication professional Mr. Hasib has cross-disciplinary experience in SBCC and social development program designing, management and execution. He is also specialized in media leveraging, partnership management and community engagement. Mr. Hasib has innovated and implemented few community development and capacity building approaches in various fields includes; health, education and model pharmacy. His current engagement with Child Labor in dry fish sector as team leader has attained a masterpiece success in media communication. As an Assistant Director of BCCP Mr. Hasib is also responsible for the Emergency Multi-Sector Rohinga Crisis Response Project (EMCRP) as Assistant Team Leader.
Md. Kamal Hossain for October 2020
As a Facility Care Assistant of BCCP Mr. Kamal is performing very efficiently to support BCCP professionals in maintaining work standard in regular office job and in the events organized at the community level to national level. His effort to utilization of resources in an efficient way is exemplary.
His technical knowledge and experience in the use and maintenance of IT equipment capacitate him to provide preliminary IT support for BCCP staff.
His interest in capturing photos of the various event has opened a new window of his potentiality.
Badal Halder for November 2020
As an Assistant Director of BCCP Mr. Badal Krishna Haldar’s years of experience in capacity building, event management, community mobilization, problem-solving, multitasking and handling complex program challenges made him a robust person in SBCC and social development field.
He has special expertise in life skills program called ‘Nijeke Jano’ and provided technical assistance to design and plan for the partner organizations. He led and worked for the model pharmacy under the Better Health in Bangladesh project in 11 districts and agri-helpline in 14 districts.
Mr. Halder has a publication on 14 types of Children Games which published in Pre-Primary Curriculum for Para Center under the education program of UNICEF.
H.M. Miraz Mahmud for December 2020
Mr. Mahmud is currently working as a Sr. Research Officer under the department of Research & Evaluation, BCCP. He has expertise both in quantitative and qualitative research, especially in the field of public health and social & behavioral research. He has excellent skills in survey design, monitoring & evaluation, academic research, data management & analyses, report writing (scientific & technical) and research related proposal development. Besides, he is equipped with different sophisticated statistical software and databases for analyzing complex dataset and archiving information.
Special Reporting
Changing Knowledge into Behaviors
Mask Wearing practices in Bangladesh during COVID 19
The COVID-19 pandemic has reshaped life as we know it. Most of us are getting habituated with the fact social distancing by staying home and avoiding people during the time of this COVID-19 pandemic. Our regular chores like going to school or work, hanging out with relatives, friends & loved ones, sightseeing are being hampered in ways we never imagined. Beside replacing the old behaviours, people in the next normal situation are now concentrating more on adapting the new routines and behaviours. Among the many new habits to follow, first and foremost is the habit of wearing a mask or face covering in a public space.
Individuals with no symptoms of COVID-19 can still transmit the virus by droplets that emerge from the mouth while talking, sneezing, and coughing. Therefore, it is necessary to wear a mask, particularly when in close proximity to others, to slow the spread of COVID-19. Furthermore, Scientists have also proven that masking lowers COVID-19 cases, even in the long term.
In terms of this global condition, a survey on current trends of mask-wearing were conducted by Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Bangladesh and UNICEF. As implementing partners multiple government organizations, donor agencies, UN agencies, NGO/CSO networks, Private sector representative and some other national level organization extended their generous supprt in the survey.
Following the RCCE based survey and observation, several crucial factors regarding mask wearing were identified in UNICEF’s survey. The survey and U-Report has demonstrated a huge fall in mask wearing since March to October. The month March, at the very beginning of the COVID 19 in Bangladesh displayed a 71-72% mask occupation whereas in the month October it was 31-38% with only 19% wore the mask correctly. Tendency and practices of mask wearing is seen more among the females compare to males. A percentage of 40 percent females in average wear masks while only 27% male wears it. Rural area (23%) has demonstrated a very low mask wearing practices than urban areas (50%). Following the divisional order, it is witnessed Chittagong (52%) being the highest and Mymensingh & Sylhet (17%) being the lowest in mask wearing. Different places and locations impacted mask wearing in distinctive ways. The survey presented a huge drift of variation particularly among females in terms of mask using on different settings. Female tend to have a higher tendency than male to wear the mask lesser in various settings such as tea stall & restaurant, market place, government office, religious places, bus station etc.
The Survey UNICEF conducted demonstrated four phase wise approach that was implemented during different segment of COVID period as per necessity.
Phase 1. Knowledge on prevention COVID-19: In the initial stage of COVID 19 raising general awareness was a main focus. Issues like basic hygiene, social distancing, staying at home were publicized.
Phase 2. Focus on Symptoms & reporting: Emphasize on reporting, testing, symptoms and home quarantine were specified in this phase. Another pinpointing factor in this phase was countering rumors and misinformation and addressing the secondary impacts.
Phase 3. Information regarding new normal coping skills, doings in Ramadan, natural disaster preparedness were given preference in the third phase. Positive stories on frontline workers were also highlighted to inspire the citizens amidst this unprecedented period. Phase 4. Prevention with promotion of mask wearing, SBCC focused knowledge and behaviours on mask occupation, mask media campaigns, other social and community engagement were prioritized and implemented during the 4th phase.
Since the beginning of COVID 19 pandemic these phase wise Risk Communication and Community Engagement (RCCE) approaches were administered nationwide. 16 RCCE partners have implemented a total of 2130 RCCE activities which covered almost 76% of the entire country. As part of the RCCE activities, several mask up & prevention campaign took place to ensure a sustainable behavior change practice nationwide. The overarching social and behavior change campaigns focused their key messages in mass media, social media, print materials, billboards, pre-call notification, local channels where 9 million have reached through social media and more than 80 million through pre-call notification. Climate effected individual, people living in hill tracks, haor, small islands, urban slums, tea gardens and other vulnerable population were also reached as part of the behavior change campaign. 500,000 imams and 238,000 mosques also assisted in disseminating campaign information among mass people.
As a consequence of the local level campaigns and programs, a close linkage has been established among the community and the people which aggravated the mask wearing practices in all circumstances. The mask-wearing guidelines vary significantly across countries. Regardless of the debates in the medical community and the global mask production shortage, currently more countries and regions are moving forward with recommendations to wear masks in public.
Editorial
Editorial:Mental health care
Every human wants a peaceful happy life and it is also important for the peaceful society as well. Health in general, and mental health in particular, is important at every stage of our lives as it encompasses our overall wellbeing and affects our lives in many ways. However, mental health is now becoming burning issues in the world which refers to cognitive, behavioral, and emotional well-being. Mental health conditions are one of the major groups of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) with crucial relevance in efforts to control and prevent NCDs. In 2017, around 792 million people that is one in ten people globally (10.7%) lived with a mental health disorder (Hannan Ritchie and Max Roser 2014). But the year 2020 was special as Covid-19 brought significant changes to the daily lives; new realities of working from home, temporary unemployment, home-schooling of children and social distancing with other family members, friends and colleagues. It became important to take care of our mental, along with the physical health. Mental health is important because it affects everything. It affects our ability to cope, adapt, and solve problems. It also affects our ability to be happy, productive, and well adjusted. Suicide rates rise when mental health is neglected. Mental health care saves lives, relieves significant distress and improves the quality of life. It also benefits the whole of our society by generating social and economic benefits that contribute to thriving communities built upon resilience, reduced levels of mental ill-health and less stigma and discrimination.
Bangladesh had an old mental health policy named the Lunacy Act that was enacted and put in place in 1912 when the country was still a British colony (1757-1947) and in the post-independent era, it amended the policy in 1987 by replacing the term “lunacy” to ‘mental illness’. In 2006 Bangladesh adopted a mental health policy, strategy and plan as part of its effort in promoting surveillance and prevention of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs). In the same year the strategy and work plan for community based mental activities also approved (WHO and MoHFW, 2006). Finally, Bangladesh passed a new Mental Health Act in 2014, which replaced the outdated 105-year-old Lunacy Act, 1912.
In Bangladesh, the level of awareness and medical care sought for mental illness is very low. Besides, there is a significant social stigma attached to mental illness that has a severe impact on the health seeking behavior of people suffering from psychosocial or mental illness. Social stigma, on the one hand, prevents them from seeking care and, on the other, makes them silently suffer from social isolation and discrimination. To achieve mental healthcare and enhance wellbeing, the Bangladesh Center for Communication Programs (BCCP) in collaboration with Centre for Mental Health Law & Policy of the Indian Law Society, Pune; Trimbos Institute, Netherlands; SNEHA – Suicide Prevention Centre, Chennai; Gujarat Institute for Mental Health (GIMH) and Hospital for Mental Health (HMH), Ahmedabad with the financial support from National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), USA has been implementing a project titled ‘Suicide Prevention and Implementation Research Initiative (SPIRIT)’. The purpose of the project is to strengthen regional capacity in conducting of research to prevent suicide.
In order to address reducing social stigma attached to mental illness and promote health seeking behavior of the people’s suffering from psychosocial illness, we need to inform and educate people on mental health problem as many misconceptions among the general public, politicians exist that it is not a sin rather it’s a disease. Mental health is in many ways are undervalued in our societies and even professionals regarding the concept of mental health. We also need to engage community stakeholders and create awareness about the mental health that social integration and productivity are linked with the well-functioning groups, societies, organizations and workplaces to be healthier. To inform people, extensive awareness program involving electronic and print media, distribution of SBCC materials, training and orientation for the health professionals/workers, religious leaders and teachers is needed.
Lancet Article
