Cholera Hospital

Bangladesh is a relatively young country – one-third of the population is aged 14 or younger while adolescents, aged 10–19 years, represent a quarter of the total population. Child mortality has declined significantly in recent decades, although it remains relatively high in global terms. Major health challenges include diarrhoeal diseases, respiratory tract infections and malnutrition – more than half of pre-school children show stunted growth, and micronutrient deficiencies are extremely common. We aim to improve child and adolescent health through research that informs policy and practice and strengthens programmes using evidence-based interventions. Our work spans all areas of maternal and young people’s health, including control of infectious disease, child development, nutrition and adolescent health. We have particular interests in childhood vaccination, generating evidence to shape the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare’s Expanded Programme on Immunisation. We have had a long-standing interest in nutrition and child development, mapping the factors that affect child development in Bangladesh and developing and testing interventions to improve child development. An important contribution to this work is made by the ‘MINIMat’ longitudinal study, begun in Matlab in 2001, which has been following a cohort of nearly 4500 pregnant women given food and micronutrient supplementation. Much of our work focuses on child health services. We evaluate services provided through Government systems, generating evidence to support improved service delivery.