Minister of Environment, Forests, and Climate Change Saber Hossain Chowdhury announced today that the National Adaptation Plan (NAP) will include a health component to combat non-communicable diseases (NCDs) linked to the environment, such as malaria, dengue, and chikungunya.
He said this as the keynote speaker at the NIHR Global Health Research Centers Symposium on Non-Communicable Diseases and Environmental Change, which was hosted at the Westin Hotel in this city and was organized by icddr,b.
Bangladesh is one of the most vulnerable nations to climate change, thus forests are being planted along the coast to save lives during natural disasters, he said.
The 100-day plan for a healthy Bangladesh was also mentioned by the environment minister on behalf of his ministry.
He said that successful steps had been made to eliminate unlawful brick kilns, support environmental education, and fight pollution of the air, water, and plastics.
Matt Cannell, Acting British High Commissioner in Dhaka; Professor Kara Hanson, Dean of Faculty, Public Health and Policy, The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and Director of the Global Health Research Programme, National Institute of Health and Care Research; Dr Tahmeed Ahmed, Executive Director, icddr,b; and Dr Aliya Naheed, Scientist, Nutrition Research Division, icddr,b, among others, were present.
