Browsing by Author "Rahman, Mahfuzar"

Now showing 1 - 20 of 34

A modified routine analysis of Arsenic content in drinking-water in Bangladesh by hydride generation-atomic absorption spectrophotometry
(2007-09-05T07:53:24Z) Wahed, M.A.; Chowdhury, Dulaly; Nermell, Barbro; Khan, Shafiqul Islam; Ilias, Mohammad; Rahman, Mahfuzar; Persson, Lars Åke; Vahter, Marie
A Review of groundwater arsenic contamination in Bangladesh: the millennium development goal era and beyond
(© 2016 MDPI AG, 2016) Md. Yunus, Fakir; Khan, Safayet; Chowdhury, Priyanka; Hasnat Milton, Abul; Hussain, Sumaira; Rahman, Mahfuzar
Arsenic contamination in drinking water has a detrimental impact on human health which profoundly impairs the quality of life. Despite recognition of the adverse health implications of arsenic toxicity, there have been few studies to date to suggest measures that could be taken to overcome arsenic contamination. After the statement in 2000 WHO Bulletin that Bangladesh has been experiencing the largest mass poisoning of population in history, we researched existing literature to assess the magnitude of groundwater arsenic contamination in Bangladesh. The literature reviewed related research that had been initiated and/or completed since the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) under four domains: (1) extent of arsenic contamination; (2) health consequences; (3) mitigation and technologies and (4) future directions. To this means, a review matrix was established for analysis of previous literature based on these four core domains. Our findings revealed that several high-quality research articles were produced at the beginning of the MDG period, but efforts have dwindled in recent years. Furthermore, there were only a few studies conducted that focused on developing suitable solutions for managing arsenic contamination. Although the government of Bangladesh has made its population’s access to safe drinking water a priority agenda item, there are still pockets of the population that continue to suffer from arsenic toxicity due to contaminated water supplies
A Review of groundwater arsenic contamination in Bangladesh: the millennium development goal era and beyond
(© 2016 MDPI AG, 2016) Md. Yunus, Fakir; Khan, Safayet; Chowdhury, Priyanka; Hasnat Milton, Abul; Hussain, Sumaira; Rahman, Mahfuzar
Arsenic contamination in drinking water has a detrimental impact on human health which profoundly impairs the quality of life. Despite recognition of the adverse health implications of arsenic toxicity, there have been few studies to date to suggest measures that could be taken to overcome arsenic contamination. After the statement in 2000 WHO Bulletin that Bangladesh has been experiencing the largest mass poisoning of population in history, we researched existing literature to assess the magnitude of groundwater arsenic contamination in Bangladesh. The literature reviewed related research that had been initiated and/or completed since the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) under four domains: (1) extent of arsenic contamination; (2) health consequences; (3) mitigation and technologies and (4) future directions. To this means, a review matrix was established for analysis of previous literature based on these four core domains. Our findings revealed that several high-quality research articles were produced at the beginning of the MDG period, but efforts have dwindled in recent years. Furthermore, there were only a few studies conducted that focused on developing suitable solutions for managing arsenic contamination. Although the government of Bangladesh has made its population’s access to safe drinking water a priority agenda item, there are still pockets of the population that continue to suffer from arsenic toxicity due to contaminated water supplies
Arsenic and cadmium in food-chain in Bangladesh--an exploratory study
(2010-12) Khan, Shafiqul Islam; Ahmed, A.K. Mottashir; Yunus, Mohammad; Rahman, Mahfuzar; Hore, Samar Kumar; Vahter, Marie; Wahed, M.A.
Arsenic and contamination of drinking-water in Bangladesh: a public-health perspective
(2007-09-03T07:26:27Z) Rahman, Mahfuzar
Arsenic exposure in pregnancy: a population-based study in Matlab, Bangladesh
(2006) Vahter, Marie E.; Li, Li; Nermell, Barbro; Rahman, Anisur; Arifeen, Shams El; Rahman, Mahfuzar; Persson, Lars Ake; Ekstrom, Eva-Charlotte
Arsenic in drinking water : a public health point of view
(2001) Smith, Allan H.; Rahman, Mahfuzar
Arsenic in drinking water : how much is tool much[newspaper]
(2000-04) Rahman, Mahfuzar
Arsenic in drinking water and skin lesions[abstract]
(2000-06) Rahman, Mahfuzar; Milton, Abul Hasnat
: Arsenic in tube well water and health consequences
(Dhaka: International Centre for Diarrhoeal Diseases Research, Bangladesh; 2003, 2003) Rahman, Mahfuzar
Arsenic ingestion and health effects in Bangladesh : consequences of well water Arsenic level more than 50 ug/1[abstract]
(2000-06) Rahman, Mahfuzar; Axelson, Olav
Chronic aresenic poisoning and respiratory effects in Bangladesh
(2001-05) Milton, Abul Hasnat; Hasan, Ziul; Rahman, Atiqur; Rahman, Mahfuzar
Contamination of drinking-water by arsenic in Bangladesh: a public health emergency
(2000) Smith, Allah H.; Lingas, Elena O.; Rahman, Mahfuzar
Deadly wells: taking action to protect
(2007-09-05T09:23:17Z) Rahman, Mahfuzar
Do key performance indicators matter on public procurement rules 2008? an empirical study on Local Government Engineering Department, Bangladesh
(PrAcademics Press) Rahman, Mahfuzar; Islam, Zohurul; Das, Amrita Kumar
This study focuses on the importance of transparency and accountability of Local Government Engineering Department (LGED)’s procurement performance based on 45 predetermined Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). The main objectives of this study are to find the extent of compliance of PPR 2008 by LGED and to identify gaps in compliance and scope of improvement for implementation. For this study, a questionnaire survey method collected data from different stakeholders related to procurement activities of LGED. Key informant interviews were also conducted with senior officers of LGED and IMED. The study result shows a clear adherence to the rules of PPR 2008 by LGED in operating its procurement functions except when paying interest for delayed payment. This study was confined to compliance issues covering 11 KPIs set by the Central Procurement Technical Unit (CPTU).
Do key performance indicators matter on public procurement rules 2008? an empirical study on Local Government Engineering Department, Bangladesh
(PrAcademics Press) Rahman, Mahfuzar; Islam, Zohurul; Das, Amrita Kumar
This study focuses on the importance of transparency and accountability of Local Government Engineering Department (LGED)’s procurement performance based on 45 predetermined Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). The main objectives of this study are to find the extent of compliance of PPR 2008 by LGED and to identify gaps in compliance and scope of improvement for implementation. For this study, a questionnaire survey method collected data from different stakeholders related to procurement activities of LGED. Key informant interviews were also conducted with senior officers of LGED and IMED. The study result shows a clear adherence to the rules of PPR 2008 by LGED in operating its procurement functions except when paying interest for delayed payment. This study was confined to compliance issues covering 11 KPIs set by the Central Procurement Technical Unit (CPTU).
Estimating catastrophic costs due to Pulmonary Tuberculosis in Bangladesh
(Atlantis Press, 2020-06-07) Chowdhury, Anita Sharif; Ahmed, Md Shakil; Ahmed, Sayem; Khanam, Fouzia; Farjana, Fariha; Reza, Saifur; Islam, Shayla; Islam, Akramul; Khan, Jahangir A.M.; Rahman, Mahfuzar
To eliminate TB from the country by the year 2030, the Bangladesh National Tuberculosis (TB) Program is providing free treatment to the TB patients since 1993. However, the patients are still to make Out-of-their Pocket (OOP) payment, particularly before their enrollment Directly Observed Treatment Short-course (DOTS). This places a significant economic burden on poor-households. We, therefore, aimed to estimate the Catastrophic Health Expenditure (CHE) due to TB as well as understand associated difficulties faced by the families when a productive family member age (15–55) suffers from TB. The majority of the OOP expenditures occur before enrolling in. We conducted a cross-sectional study using multistage sampling in the areas of Bangladesh where Building Resources Across Communities (BRAC) provided TB treatment during June 2016. In total, 900 new TB patients, aged 15–55 years, were randomly selected from a list collected from BRAC program. CHE was defined as the OOP payments that exceeded 10% of total consumption expenditure of the family and 40% of total non-food expenditure/capacity-to-pay. Regular and Bayesian simulation techniques with 10,000 replications of re-sampling with replacement were used to examine robustness of the study findings. We also used linear regression and logit model to identify the drivers of OOP payments and CHE, respectively. The average total cost-of-illness per patient was 124 US$, of which 68% was indirect cost. The average CHE was 4.3% of the total consumption and 3.1% of non-food expenditure among the surveyed households. The poorest quintile of the households experienced higher CHE than their richest counterpart, 5% vs. 1%. Multiple regression model showed that the risk of CHE increased among male patients with smear-negative TB and delayed enrolling in the DOTS. Findings suggested that specific groups are more vulnerable to CHE who needs to be brought under innovative safety-net schemes.
Examining the Associations Between Maternal Blood, Umbilical Cord Blood Arsenic and its Metabolites
(Dhaka: International Centre for Diarrhoeal Diseases Research, Bangladesh; 2004, 2004) Rahman, Mahfuzar
Geogenic arsenic and Microbial contamination in drinking water sources: Exposure risks to the coastal population in Bangladesh
(Frontiers, 5/8/2019) Saha, Ratnajit; Dey, Nepal C.; Rahman, Mahfuzar; Bhattacharya, Prosun; Rabbani, Golam H.
The study aimed to investigate the most usable drinking water sources quality and the dependent population's exposure to potentially contaminated water. The specific area chosen for the study was the coastal area in Satkhira district's Tala Upazila. Six hundred and fourty nine most usable drinking water sources were selected, that included Deep Tubewell (DTW), Shallow Tubewell (STW) and Pond Sand Filter (PSF) for drinking water sampling. Following standard sampling procedures, in-situ measurements were taken for seven important water quality parameters: Arsenic-As, Iron-Fe, Electrical Conductivity-EC, Temperature-Temp, Total Coliform- TC, E-coli, and Fecal Coliform-FC. In addition, semi-structured questionnaire surveys were conducted at corresponding dependent households (HH). Weighted arithmetic water quality index (WQI) was used to calculate the suitability of the derived water for drinking purposes. In the tested water sources, As, Fe and EC range were found 0–500 μg/L, 0–18 mg/L, and 165–8,715 μS/cm, respectively. Of all the tested water sources, 74% exceeded the permissible limit for As, 83% for Fe and 99% for EC, according to WHO standards. Comparatively higher percentages of Point of Uses (PoU) were found to be more contaminated than Point of Sources (PoS), such as TC found in 38% PoS and 54% of corresponding PoU, E. coli found in 24% PoS and 35% of PoU and FC found in 45% PoS and 55% of PoU. WQI suggested that the majority (72%) of most usable drinking water sources were found to be unsuitable for drinking. Thus, 40% of the population (0.12 million) in the study area were directly consuming contaminated water. Dependent household members most frequently suffered from fever, diarrhea and high blood pressure, resulting in the average household spending USD 3–13 per month/HH for health-related expenditures, which is higher than national average. To acquire safe drinking water, the majority (58%) of the dependent HH expressed willingness to pay USD 1 per month/ HH which is costly for them. The situation can be improved by installing a deep tube well for safe drinking water, periodically testing the water quality, educating the public for better hygiene practices, and providing entrepreneurial incentives to help deliver safe water to the public at lower cost.
How many hours do people sleep in Bangladesh? a country-representative survey
(© 2016 Blackwell Publishing Ltd., 2016) Md. Yunus, Fakir; Khan, Safayet; Akter, Tahera; Rahman, Mahfuzar; Reja, Saifur; Islam, Akramul; Jhohura, Fatema
This study investigated total sleep time in the Bangladeshi population and identified the proportion of the population at greater risk of developing chronic diseases due to inadequate sleep. Using a cross-sectional survey, total sleep time was captured and analysed in 3968 respondents aged between 6 and 106 years in 24 (of 64) districts in Bangladesh. Total sleep time was defined as the hours of total sleep in the previous 24 h. We used National Sleep Foundation (2015) guidelines to determine the recommended sleep hours in different age categories. Less or more than the recommended total sleep time (in hours) was considered 'shorter' and 'longer' sleep time, respectively. Linear and multinomial logistic regression models were used to determine the relationship between demographic variables and estimated risk of shorter and longer total sleep time. The mean (±standard deviation) total sleep time of children (6-13 years), teenagers (14-17 years), young adults and adults (18-64 years) and older adults (≥65 years) were 8.6 (±1.1), 8.1 (±1.0), 7.7 (±0.9) and 7.8 (±1.4) h, respectively, which were significantly different (P < 0.01). More than half of school-age children (55%) slept less than, and 28.2% of older adults slept longer than, recommended. Residents in all divisions (except Chittagong) in Bangladesh were less likely to sleep longer than in the Dhaka division. Rural populations had a 3.96× greater chance of sleeping for a shorter time than urban residents. The Bangladeshi population tends to sleep for longer and/or shorter times than their respective recommended sleep hours, which is detrimental to health.