The extent of tobacco cultivation remains substantially high in Bangladesh, which is the 12th largest tobacco producer in the world. Using data from a household survey of current, former, and never tobacco farmers, based on a multi-stage stratified sampling design with a mix of purposive and random sampling of households, this study estimated the financial and economic profitability per acre of land used for tobacco cultivation. The environmental effects of tobacco cultivation on land and water resources were estimated using laboratory tests of sample water and soil collected from tobacco-cultivating and non-tobacco cultivating areas. The study finds that tobacco cultivation turns into a losing concern when the opportunity costs of unpaid family labour and other owned resources, and the health effects of tobacco cultivation are included. Tobacco cultivation poses a significantly high environmental cost that causes a net loss to society. Nevertheless, the availability of unpaid family labour and the options of advanced credit as well as a buy back guarantee from the tobacco companies attract farmers to engage in and continue tobacco cultivation. Therefore, supply side interventions to curb the tobacco epidemic in Bangladesh need to address major drivers of tobacco cultivation to correct the wrong incentives and motivate tobacco farmers to switch to alternative livelihood options.

Objectives: In this study we compared two predictions of COVID-19 cases in the Kingdom Saudi Arabia (KSA) using pre–and post–relaxation of lockdown period data to provide an insight regarding rational exit strategies. We also applied these projections to understand economic costs versus health benefit of lockdown measures. Methods: We analyzed open access data on COVID-19 cases from March 6 to January 16, 2021 in the KSA. To understand the epidemic projection during the pre- and post-lockdown period, we used two types of modeling: the SIR model, and the time series model. We also estimated the costs and benefits of lockdown- QALY gained compared to the costs of lockdown considering the payment threshold of the Government. Results: Prediction using lockdown period data suggested that the epidemic might slow down significantly after 109 thousand cases and end on October 6, 2020. However, analysis with latest data after easing lockdown measures suggested that epidemic might be close to an end on October 28, 2021 with 358 thousand cases. The peak has also been shifted from May 18, 2020 to Jun 24, 2020. While earlier model predicted a steady growth in mid-June, the revised model with latest data predicted it in mid-August. In addition, we estimated that 4986 lives would have been saved if lockdown continued but the cost per life saved would be more than $378 thousand, which is way above not only the KSA threshold, but also the threshold of any other highly advanced economies such as the UK and the USA. Conclusions: Our results suggest that relaxation of lockdown measures negatively impacts the epidemic. However, considering the negative impact of prolong lockdown measures on health and economy, countries must decide on the best timing and strategy to exit from such measures to safely return to normal life with minimum loss of lives and economy considering its economic and health systems’ capacity. Instead of focusing only on health, a balanced approach taking economy under consideration is recommended.

Objectives The overall price elasticity of cigarette consumption in Bangladesh has been studied extensively. The estimates of price elasticity by price tiers are not available in the existing literature. Methods Using cohort data of nearly 6000 individuals from the International Tobacco Control Bangladesh survey, this study estimated the own-price and cross-price elasticity and income elasticity of cigarette demand by price tiers in Bangladesh. The elasticity was estimated in three stages of consumer decisions: whether to smoke, which brand to smoke and finally, how many cigarettes to smoke per day. The decision to smoke cigarettes and the choice of cigarette brands were modelled using instrumental variable probability regression. The cigarette consumption per day was modelled using seemingly unrelated regression. Results The price elasticity of cigarette smoking prevalence with respect to the price of low-price cigarettes is −0.0487. The total elasticity for low-price cigarette consumption with respect to its own price is −0.1678. The own-price elasticity of smoking intensity of high-priced brands is −0.2512. The cross-price elasticity of low-price cigarette consumption with respect to high-price brand prices is 0.2643. The income elasticity of smoking prevalence overall is 0.0564. The income elasticity of daily consumption of low-price cigarettes is −0.1934 and for high-price cigarettes, it is 1.4044. The total income elasticity is 1.4608 for high-price cigarettes. Conclusion A cigarette tax policy that raises the prices of both low-price and high-price brands—but increases prices in the low-price tier at a faster rate than in the high-price tier and increases prices of all brands at a pace faster than income growth—can effectively reduce cigarette consumption in Bangladesh. JEL codes H29, L66, I18.

Marital disruption defined as widowhood, divorce, or separation, has adverse consequences for women’s health and wellbeing. Extant evidence, however, is primarily available for older women or in developed country settings. Consequences of marital disruption for younger women in the developing countries is relatively less visited. The aim of this cross-sectional study is to assess whether maritally disrupted women of reproductive age (18–49 years) had differential risk of tobacco-use compared to their married counterparts. Using nationally representative data from India, we estimated multivariable logistic regressions to obtain the odds in favor of tobacco-use for maritally disrupted women. We found that compared to women remained in marriage, maritally disrupted women were 1.5 times (95% CI: 1.4–1.6) more likely to consume tobacco. The higher risk of tobacco-use of maritally disrupted women was evident in both younger (age 18–34) and older (age 35–49) cohorts. The results were robust across urban and rural areas, high- and low- education groups, and poor- and non-poor households. The higher odds of tobacco-use among maritally disrupted women persisted even after accounting for household fixed effects. The study findings thus, have implications for strengthening targeted tobacco control policies and health promotion among maritally disrupted women in low-and-middle income countries.

Childhood pneumonia affects an estimated 18% of under-five children in Bangladesh. Urban slum-dwellers face challenges in healthcare-seeking. This study examined the factors influencing the healthcare-seeking for childhood pneumonia among under-two children in urban slums in Bangladesh. The study examined influence of children’s characteristics (age, sex, number of ARI/pneumonia symptoms, and duration of symptoms), maternal factors (age, education, and working status), and household characteristics (number of household members, wealth quintile, sex of household heads, age of household heads). The outcome variable was receiving care from a qualified medical provider for childhood pneumonia or pneumonia-like symptoms within 14 days before the collection of surveillance data. The research utilized data from the Urban Health and Demographic Surveillance System, which included 155,000 people from five slums in Dhaka and Gazipur City Corporation areas. Overall, 753 out of 4,679 (16%) children under two years of age were included in this study, all of whom had ARI/pneumonia-like symptoms. The mean age of these children was 11.4 months, and 50% were boys. Of them, 350 (46%) sought care from local pharmacies, while 37% sought care from medically trained providers. Logistic regression analyses indicated that children with multiple symptoms (AOR: 2.32, 95% CI: 1.71–3.14) and illness duration over seven days (AOR: 2.61, 95% CI: 1.51–4.51) had higher odds of receiving care from a medically trained provider. Higher maternal education compared to no formal education, having five or more household members compared to four or fewer, household heads aged 40–49 years compared to those under 25 years, a longer duration of living in the slum (more than 10 years compared to less than five years), and belonging to the richest wealth quintile compared to the poorest were protective factors for care-seeking from qualified providers. Further research is required to understand the context for designing appropriate interventions and comprehensive policies for improved child health regarding ARI/pneumonia-like symptoms.