ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION: Research on fertility and reproductive health has expanded rapidly. However, questions regarding the association between women empowerment and fertility in terms of the reproductive health status in Bangladesh remain unanswered. This study aimed to address these questions through a systematic literature review. METHODS: In this review study, the PubMed, Scopus, Banglajol, and Google Scholar databases were searched systematically and screened in terms of the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Data from 15 articles included in this review were extracted for further assessment. RESULTS: Fifteen studies with a total of 212,271 participants from Bangladesh met our selection criteria. Most of the articles were conducted on ever-married women aged 15 to 49 years using nationally representative Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey data. The major religions were Islam (86.8%-90.2%) and Hinduism (10%-13%). The age of women at first marriage varied from 14 to 20 years, and the age at first birth ranged from 16 to 22 years. The fertility rate in Bangladesh has reduced remarkably over the period from 1975 to 2022. After controlling for other social and health factors, the study found that empowerment factors such as women's education, working status, involvement in household decision-making, participation in economic decision-making, and freedom in movement influenced the fertility and reproductive health status in Bangladesh. CONCLUSION: As an initial step, this study found a negative relationship between women's empowerment and the control of fertility and reproductive health. Greater policy focus should be directed toward women empowerment factors to improve the fertility situation and reproductive health status in Bangladesh and other countries with similar sociodemographic profiles.
ABSTRACT
Agricultural sector accelerates a nation's economic growth towards sustainable development. There exists a significant relationship between agriculture and the environment. Sustainable agricultural development ensures food quality and in tandem prevents natural calamities like drought. However, in order to fulfill the food demand of a growing population, poor law quality and untenable agriculture practices arise, which in turn lead to environmental degradation. The current study explores the relationship between the agro-economic atmosphere and CO2 emissions as a measure of environmental degradation in Bangladesh between the years of 1985 and 2017. To exhibit the long-run relationship of agricultural ecology and carbon dioxide emissions, three cointegrated equations- Fully-modified ordinary least square (FMOLS), Dynamic ordinary least square (DOLS), and Canonical cointegrated regression (CCR) were assessed. For cointegration, Bayer-Hanck cointegration was implied. In long-run estimates, it was found that livestock, rice area harvested, cereal production, and other crop production impeded environmental dilapidation. The Granger Causality Test enabled unidirectional causality towards burned biomass (crop residues), the agricultural economy, and carbon emissions. Therefore, this dimension's causality concluded that carbon dioxide emissions were caused by cereal production, other agricultural production, and agricultural land production. The overall findings of this study could potentially assist the Government of Bangladesh and the necessary authorities for implementing synchronized policies to help reduce environmental pollution and set an example for other developing nations like Bangladesh.
ABSTRACT
Background: Coronavirus has spread to almost every country since its emergence in Wuhan, China and countries have been adopted an array of measures to control the rapid spread of the epidemic. Here, we aimed to assess the person's knowledge, attitude and practices (KAP) toward the COVID-19 epidemic in Southeast and South Asia applying the mixed study design (cross-sectional and systematic review). Methods: In the cross-sectional study, 743 respondents' socio-demographic and KAP-related information was collected through an online population-based survey from the Malaysian population. In the systematic review, the database PubMed, Web of Science and Google Scholar search engine were searched and related published articles from South and Southeast Asia were included. Frequency distribution, Chi-square association test and binary logistic regression were fitted using cross-sectional data whereas random effect model and study bias were performed in meta-analysis. We used 95% confidence interval and P <0.05 as statistical significances. Results: The prevalence of good knowledge, positive attitude and frequent practice toward COVID-19 epidemic were 52.6%, 51.8% and 57.1%, respectively, obtained by cross-sectional data analysis. The KAP prevalence were ranged from 26.53% (Thailand) to 95.4% (Nepal); 59.3% (Turkey) to 92.5% (Pakistan); and 50.2 (Turkey) to 97% (Afghanistan), respectively, obtained by 18 studies included in the meta-analysis. The prevalence of KAP was higher [84% vs. 79%, Pheterogeneity <0.001; 83% vs. 80%, Pheterogeneity <0.001; 85% vs. 83%, Pheterogeneity <0.001] in South Asia compared to Southeast Asia, obtained by subgroup analysis. Some studies reported mean level instead of the proportion of the KAP where the score varied from 8.15-13.14; 2.33-33.0; and 1.97-31.03, respectively. Having more knowledge and attitude were encouraged more likely to practice toward COVID-19. Study suggests age, gender, education, place of residence and occupation as the most frequent significant risk factors of KAP toward COVID-19. Conclusion: The study sufficiently informs how other countries in Southeast and South Asia enriches their KAP behaviors during the pandemic which may help health professionals and policymakers to develop targeted interventions and effective practices.
