Introduction: Gradual total health expenditure (THE) has become a major concern. It is not only the increased THE, but also its unequal growth in overall economy, found among the developing countries. If increased life expectancy is considered as a leverage for an individual’s investment in health services, it can be expected that as the life expectancy increases, tendency of health care investment will also experience a boost up. Objective: The aim of the present study was to explore and identify the association of healthcare expenditure with the life expectancy and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in developing countries, especially that of Bangladesh. Methodology: Data were retrospectively collected from “Health Bulletin 2011” and “Sample Vital Registration System 2010” of Bangladesh considering the fiscal year 1996 to fiscal year 2006. Using STATA, multivariable logistic regression was performed to find out the association of total health expenditure with GDP and life expectancy. Results: A direct relationship between GDP and total health expenditure was found through analysing the data. At the individual level, income had a direct influence on health spending. However, there was no significant relationship between total health expenditure with increased life expectancy. Conclusion: The present study did not find any association between life expectancy and total health expenditure. However, our analysis found out that total health expenditure is more sensitive to gross domestic product rather than life expectancy.

Background: There is increasing interest in building the capacity of researchers in low and middle income countries (LMIC) to address their national priority health and health policy problems. However, the number and variety of partnerships and funding arrangements can create management problems for LMIC research institutes. This paper aims to identify problems faced by a health research institute in Bangladesh, describe two strategies developed to address these problems, and identify the results after three years of implementation. Methods: This paper uses a mixture of quantitative and qualitative data collected during independent annual reviews of the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (ICDDR,B) between 2006 and 2010. Quantitative data includes the number of research activities according to strategic priority areas, revenues collected and expenditure. Qualitative data includes interviews of researchers and management of ICDDR,B, and of research users and key donors. Data in a Monitoring and Evaluation Framework (MEF) were assessed against agreed indicators. Results: The key problems faced by ICDDR,B in 2006 were insufficient core funds to build research capacity and supporting infrastructure, and an inability to direct research funds towards the identified research priorities in its strategic plan. Two strategies were developed to address these problems: a group of donors agreed to provide unearmarked pooled core funding, and accept a single common report based on an agreed MEF. On review after three years, there had been significant increases in total revenue, and the ability to allocate greater amounts of money on capacity building and infrastructure. The MEF demonstrated progress against strategic objectives, and better alignment of research against strategic priorities. There had also been changes in the sense of ownership and collaboration between ICDDR,B's management and its core donors. Conclusions: The changes made to funding relationships supported and monitored by an effective MEF enabled the organisation to better align funding with research priorities and to invest in capacity building. This paper identified key issues for capacity building for health research in low and middle income countries. The findings have relevance to other research institutes in similar contexts to advocate and support research capacity strengthening efforts.

In rural Australia, recent trends reveal an exponential increase in the rates of physical inactivity, central obesity, metabolic syndrome, and cancer in the population. The limited rural health workforce, which is struggling to meet this growing burden, is boosted by digital technologies such as My Health Record, Cardihab, Healthdirect, and MindSpot, all of which offer opportunities for improved diagnostics, monitoring, and management of chronic diseases. However, implementing proven digital health technologies in rural communities has been challenging on numerous fronts. This perspective aims to (1) highlight the rural health gap and propose a way forward in implementing evidence-based digital health technologies in the rural, regional, and remote communities of Australia and (2) guide future rural health policy.

Introduction: Access to drinking water is a fundamental concern for many countries, including Bangladesh. Drinking of unsafe water might result to cause diseases and illness which heightens the economic burden for every one by increasing the treatment costs and work days lost. In Bangladesh, rural households coupled with the lack of safe water, also faces water-contamination with arsenic and other pollutants. Objective: This study explores the status of the rural people in accessing the water for households. It also determines their knowledge regarding the contaminated water. Methodology: The current study used retrospective data from Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee’s (BRAC) Research and Evaluation Division’s baseline survey which was initiated under the ‘water, sanitation and hygiene’ program. Data was taken from 16,052 households between November 2006 and June 2007. Descriptive statistics were used to report the study findings. Results: Approximately 67% of the households had a permanent water source and majority had their deep tube well. A major proportion of the household respondent (70%) identified the method properly to purify polluted water. About 41% households used tube well as a source of water for daily purposes, i.e., drinking, cooking, washing utensils, and bathing. Majority (85%) of the households were found to pay willingly for a good source of water. Households with the non-governmental organization (NGO) membership were willing to pay even more for the safe water as compared to households without NGO membership. Conclusion: Respondents had considerable knowledge and awareness concerning the contaminated water. The association of NGO membership and level of awareness presented in this study should be of particular interest to the policy makers. Keywords: Health, Awareness, Knowledge, Rural Bangladesh.

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) target 3.2 aims to reduce neonatal mortality to as low as 12 per 1000 live births and under-five mortality to as low as 25 per 1000 live births by 2030 [1]. Despite these targets, an estimated five million children aged <5 years lost their lives worldwide in 2021, with over […]