Bangladesh NCDI Poverty Commission Holds First Meeting

Participants at the first meeting of the Bangladesh NCDI Poverty Commission Meeting.

The Bangladesh NCDI Poverty Commission held its first meeting on 26 October 2022 at the Directorate General of Medical Education in Dhaka, increasing the number of countries participating in the NCDI Poverty Network to 22.

Twenty members of the Bangladesh Commission were in attendance, representing government agencies, professional societies, universities, WHO, UNICEF, and implementing partners, including the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh.

The meeting was chaired by Commission Chair Dr. Robed Amin, the Line Director of Non-Communicable Disease Control of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS). After group introductions, Dr. Amin delivered opening remarks.

Following the opening speech, Commission Member Secretary Dr. Shahidul Islam of DGHS presented on the objectives of the Bangladesh Commission. Following Dr. Islam’s remarks, Dr. Saidur Rahman Mashreky of the Centre for Injury Prevention and Research Bangladesh presented on the NCDI Poverty Network agenda in Bangladesh, equity agendas in NCDs, findings of the Lancet Commission, and Commission deliverables.

NCDI Poverty Network Policy Director Dr. Neil Gupta provided an overview of the Network’s work and shared how national NCDI Poverty commissions are reforming the treatment of NCDs and injuries for the world’s poorest and most vulnerable people. Following Dr. Gupta’s presentation, Minhazul Abedin, the Bangladesh Commission research sssistant of the Centre for Injury Prevention and Research Bangladesh, shared the Commission’s analytical framework.

After the presentations, Dr. Amin moderated a group discussion that covered a range of topics, including potential data sources to develop an analytical framework for producing a sophisticated situation analysis of Bangladesh’s NCD and injury burden.

The Commission agreed to a timeframe in which a first draft of the situation analysis would be circulated in January 2023 and the final draft completed in February. The Bangladesh Commission will meet next in May 2023.

The Bangladesh Commission is hosted by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and the Center for Injury Prevention and Research in Bangladesh.