Cognitive Testing and Piloting of the Bangla Version of the Washington Group Short Set Questionnaire on Functioning Among Adolescent Girls and Women With Disabilities in Selected Sub-districts of Bangladesh.

Introduction This study focuses on the cognitive testing and piloting of the Bangla version of the Washington Group Short Set Questionnaire on Functioning among adolescent girls and women with disabilities in selected sub-districts of Bangladesh. The Washington Group on Disability Statistics developed the questionnaire as a tool to assess the functioning and disability status of individuals. The adaptation of this questionnaire to Bangla is crucial for capturing accurate data on the experiences of adolescent girls and women with disabilities in Bangladesh. Materials and methods The research employs a two-phase approach, starting with cognitive testing to ensure the linguistic and cultural relevance of the translated questionnaire. This phase involves engaging with a sample of the target population to assess the comprehension, clarity, and appropriateness of the questions. Subsequently, a pilot study was conducted in selected sub-districts to evaluate the feasibility and validity of the Bangla version of the Washington Group Short Set Questionnaire on Functioning in real-world settings. Both of the tests were conducted in March 2023. Results There were different types of participants with different types of disabilities. Information processing, meaning, understanding the questions, thinking, and answering speed or time were different between groups, even though they were different from person to person. The initial assessments indicate strong consistency in responses. Participants demonstrated a favorable response rate, indicating potential effectiveness for broader implementation. Conclusion The current study aims to contribute to disability data collection methodologies, particularly in the context of adolescent girls and women in Bangladesh. The research seeks to empower policymakers, researchers, and advocacy groups with a robust instrument of disability screening. Researchers and clinicians may rely on our accurate and validated Washington Group Short Set Questionnaire on Functioning translation into Bangla when working with adolescent girls and women with disabilities.

Effects of the Involvement of Male Counterparts in the Menstrual Hygiene Management of Women and Adolescent Girls With Disabilities in Selected Sub-districts of Bangladesh: Protocol for a Quasi-experimental Study.

Background Women and adolescent girls with disabilities suffer the most difficulties during menstruation days in developing countries like Bangladesh. They deal with menstruation in a hazardous and unclean manner. In Bangladesh, men serve as the family's gatekeepers for health-seeking behavior. But they frequently have no idea how unpleasant and demanding menstruation can be. Menstrual hygiene care for women and adolescent girls with disabilities can be improved by involving male peers. In Bangladesh, no such intervention has been assessed. The purpose of the study is to assess the effects of male participation on menstrual hygiene management of women and adolescent girls with disabilities in Bangladesh. Methods This will be a quasi-experimental study with a sample size of 120 (60 - control, 60 - intervention). The study will be conducted in a sub-district of Bogura and Chapainawabganj in Bangladesh. Inclusion criteria for the study participants are women and adolescent girls with disabilities (intervention and control groups) and male counterparts (intervention group). The exclusion criteria for this study are women and adolescent girls with mental and intellectual disabilities. Engaging male peers in menstrual hygiene management is the key intervention in the study. No blinding or randomization will be applied. The expected primary outcome in the intervention group will be an improvement in the menstrual hygiene management of women and adolescent girls with disabilities in the selected sub-districts of Bangladesh. Two times data will be collected from the intervention and control groups using the 'Menstrual Practice Needs Scale-36', 'Perceived Stress Scale', and 'Multi-dimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support'. The analysis of variance (ANOVA) test will be applied to a two-point data series to assess statistical significance. Results The result of the study will be published in a scientific journal. The outcomes of the research will be disseminated to local policymakers and health planners. The health administrator will get evidence-based information on gender-inclusive menstrual hygiene management for women and adolescent girls with disabilities through study result dissemination events. Conclusion This protocol for a quasi-experimental study in Bangladesh highlights the potential advantages of involving male peers in the menstrual hygiene management of women and adolescent girls with disabilities. It may promote gender-inclusive behavior in selected subdistricts of Bangladesh.

Reliability and Validity of the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support Among Women and Adolescent Girls With Disabilities in Selected Sub-districts of Bangladesh.

Background Adequate community-based or societal collaboration and cooperation are considerably important for the overall welfare of women and adolescent girls with disabilities. "The Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS)" has not been evaluated for reliability and validity amid women and adolescent girls with disabilities in the Bangladeshi context. Methods A Bangla-translated form of the MSPSS was constructed, and the survey was conducted among 152 women and adolescent girls with disabilities who were purposefully recruited from Bogura Sadar and Chapainawabganj Sadar sub-districts of Bangladesh. Results The Cronbach's alpha of the entire scale was 0.868, indicating high internal consistency. Cronbach's alpha for the family sub-scale was 0.763, the friends sub-scale was 0.820, and the significant others scale was 0.776. The composite reliability for the family sub-scale was 0.849677, the friends sub-scale was 0.881248, and the significant others sub-scale was 0.859668. Convergence reliability was established following sub-scale-wise scores. It affirms the consistency of measurements. The content validity score was >0.62, following the Lawshe approach. The three-factor model was adopted during confirmatory factor analysis when the three-factor model run in SPSS Amos (version 21) CFI (comparative fit index) was 0.919. Conclusions In Bangladesh, to the best of our knowledge, our study is initially to calculate the perceived societal assistance of women and adolescent girls with disabilities. We validated the Bangla-translated form of the MSPSS from the Bangladeshi perspective. Researchers and clinicians may rely on our accurate and validated MSPSS translation into Bangla when working with this group. Based on our findings, this study endorses implementing the MSPSS for assessing professed community-based collaboration using the three-factor model, especially among women and adolescent girls with disabilities.

Hits and misses of Bangladesh National Health Policy 2011.

National Health Policy (NHP) is a guiding principle for a country to identify the priority of health-care needs, resource allocations according to prioritization, and to achieve specific health-care goals. In addition, NHP is usually wide-ranging, all-inclusive plan that pursues each and every population to move on the road to better health. NHP targets to achieve universal health coverage and delivering quality health-care services to all at inexpensive cost, through a preemptive, protective, and prophylactic health-care program in all national and international developmental policy and planning. There are quite a few constituents that are valuable in executing health policy. These elements include novelty, technical compendium, communiqué, conglomerates, administration, supervision, and political awareness and promise. Health policies can be implemented at all levels of the government system. It helps in strengthening the overall health-care system of the country by effective public-private coordination and collaboration. In the year 1990, the Government of Bangladesh (GoB) tried to promulgate an NHP. Unfortunately, the attempt failed. The health-care system of the country operated without a policy until 2011. In the year 2011, the country's first health policy was published by the GoB. Though the country has have achieved excellent progress in providing health care, but yet Bangladesh has a few critical challenges that need immediate attention. In this article, we will try to address the pros and cons of the Bangladesh NHP 1990 and the positive aspects and challenges of NHP 2011.

The Global Gag Rule: The death trap for comprehensive sexual and reproductive healthcare and way to overcome the US gag rule.

The United States of America (USA) is one of the largest bilateral donors in the field of global health assistance. There are beneficiaries in 70 countries around the world. In 2015, the USA released US$638 million for the improvement of global health status by promoting family planning services. Unfortunately, in 2017, Trump administration reinstated Mexico City Policy/Global Gag Rule (GGR). This policy prevents non-US nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) from receiving US health financial assistance if they have any relationship with abortion-related services. This restriction pushed millions of lives into great danger due to the lack of comprehensive family planning services, especially lack of abortion-related services. This article has attempted to let the readers know about the impacts of GGR around the world and how global leaders are trying to overcome the harmful effects of this rule. Finally, it proposes some solutions to the impacts of the extension of Mexico City Policy.