Bangladesh
Bangladesh has been a recipient country of the Global Fund since 2004 and has been disbursed over US$ 705.6 million for HIV, TB and malaria programmes to date. It is one of the Global Fund’s ‘high impact’ countries and part of the Multicountry East Asia and Pacific APN and Multicountry South Asia grants supported by the Global Fund.
Bangladesh has made significant progress in ending the three epidemics despite political unrest and severe flooding in recent years. The country is edging closer towards malaria elimination with 51 out of its 64 districts now considered to be non-endemic.
However, many cases of TB go undetected which could compromise gains made to date. Yet, despite the significant decline in TB notifications due to COVID-19, the country achieved a quick return to pre-pandemic notification levels by the end of 2020, and notification rates exceeded targets for the first six months of 2021.
Action
About the action
The action in Bangladesh is led by BRAC with full participation of communities and civil society partners.
Action
Preparations
On the 9th March, BRAC colleagues got together including Senior Director Dr. Md. Akramul Islam, Dr Shayla Islam, Tanjina Afrose, and community partners got together to prepare for the letters to be sent to donor embassies.
Action
Preparation of Letters sent
On the 13th March, letters were prepared and inserted into the card covers on 250 GSM paper and were sent with each bottle of cranes prepared to 16 donor Embassies or High Commissions including United States, France United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, Canada, European Commission, Sweden, Italy, Netherlands, Australia, Norway, Denmark, Belgium, Spain, and Switzerland. Due to security reasons, photographs were not allowed at the Embassies or High Commissions.
Action
Letters acknowledged by donors
Acknowledgement letters were received from embassies after delivering the letters and jars.
