Category: Blogs

Blog: Urban Dispensaries and Primary Healthcare in Dhaka

By Umme Salma Anee, Masroor Salauddin, Sadika Afrin, Faiaz Chowdhury, Nabila Binte jahan, Deepa Barua and Rumana Huque, ARK Foundation, Bangladesh, and Helen Elsey, University of York Urban regions in Bangladesh are now more densely populated as a result of migration and industrialization. With a population rise of 3.26% from 2022 to 2023, Dhaka, the…


Blog: Herding cats or Flying with the Flock? Experiences of co-designing health systems interventions to improve health in complex urban environments (ICUH Panel Session, Atlanta 2023)

With multiple stakeholders, all with competing agendas and different expectations – how do you effectively co-design sustainable, feasible, equitable interventions to strengthen health systems?   At the 19th International Conference on Urban Health, in Atlanta, USA November 2023, CHORUS researchers  from all partner countries contributed to a panel session to share our lessons and findings…


Blog: Uniting Planetary Health and Climate Justice – A Call to Global Action

by Baby Naznin, Senior Research Associate (BRAC University, James P. Grant School of Public Health, Bangladesh) In the heart of Utrecht, Netherlands, the 13th European Congress for Tropical Medicine and International Health (ECTMIH) recently concluded, leaving a profound impact on the global discourse around planetary health. Organized by the Federation of European Societies of Tropical…


Blog: Delivering Health Information in Urban Areas – The Intersection of Media and Research

by Delali Kumapley (CHORUS Research Uptake Co-Lead)   Health information rides on the wheels of communication and the media[i] by providing information to improve health and influencing healthcare decisions.  During the needs assessment of the CHORUS Ghana study, for instance, residents in the study sites referred to television, radio, and the internet as their primary…


Blog: From People to Policy: Media has a lot to do in Health

By Shreeman Sharma “When a dog bites a man, that is not news, because it happens so often. But if a man bites a dog, that is news.” This is a quote attributed to 19th century American journalist John B. Bogart. This quote is very commonly used in journalism teaching and journalistic practice while defining…


Blog: Gender Norms and Health-Seeking Behaviour in Nepal, Bangladesh, Ghana and Nigeria

By Delali Kumapley, CHORUS Research Uptake Co-Lead, and the CHORUS Gender & Intersectionality Group Based on the case study: “The Influence of Changing Gender and Social Norms on Health Seeking Behaviour and Health Systems in Cities” by Sushama Kanan, Abriti Arjyal, Lauren Wallace, Ada Nwameme, Chinyere Mbachu, Faria Islam, Samina Huque, Umme Salma, Grishu Shrestha,…


Blog: HSR2022 – A Journey of Lessons and Persistence for a Policy Implementer and Budding Health Systems Researcher from an LMIC

By Patience Ami Mamattah, Municipal Health Director and PhD student, Ghana Photos credit: Patience Mamattah Stakeholders and researchers from LMIC cities are at the forefront of the healthcare challenges related to rapid urbanisation, and need to be central in the conversations on how to approach them. We need to be fully represented in the key…


Blog: The Transgender Community and Disparities of the Urban Health Care System. Untold Stories

By Umme Salma Anee, Nondita Hassan, Fariha Islam Munia, Maisha Ahsan Momo, Tahmid Hasan, Deepa Barua and Rumana Huque. ARK Foundation, Bangladesh A transgender woman, named Sumaiya (pseudonym), became sick while collecting money for a prolonged time under the scorching heat of summer. She went to buy medicine from a road side drug store. While…


Blog: Safeguarding and Urban Health Researchers in Bangladesh

By Samina Huque, Project Manager and Safeguarding Focal Point, ARK Foundation, Bangladesh Safeguarding policies and practices in the global health research sector are inspired and influenced by different sources and entities. In most countries, organizations form their safeguarding policies as per the law of the respective country and relevant laws of the host/donor countries they…


Blog: Urban slum life hit by poverty and tragedy

Deepak Joshi, CHORUS Researcher, HERD International, Nepal Our team, as part of making the video documentary, visited a slum area located in Pokhara City, located near the airport. We also visited the weekly clinic conducted by one of the health facilities offering services to the residents. We were five people in our team including myself,…