The unusual situation that arose due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the 65-day fishing ban (national policy to boost depleted fish stocks) affected the lower-income fishing communities in coastal Bangladesh. Shocks and stresses were posed, and community people adopted strategies to adapt to the changes. In the process of adaptation, social-ecological systems resilience at different levels plays a crucial role. Though resilience is acknowledged as multilevel feature, studies on the interaction between the levels while understanding communities’ responses to shock and stress are limited. Thus, in this study, we explored the shocks and stresses the fishing community faced and their views on the resilience feature at different levels (i.e., individual, household, and community level) in coastal Bangladesh during the COVID-19 pandemic and 65-day fishing ban period. The study found that the most resilience promoting features (e.g., diversified livelihood, friendship, and network of supports) were adopted at the individual and household levels. However, positive and negative interactions were explored between resilience features at all levels. Low community-level resilience was not translated into a lack of household-level resilience, and strong individual-level resilience did not mean high household-level resilience. It was noted that the increased resilience of a particular individual or household could negatively affect community resilience. Resilience features showed inconsistent interactions within or among the three levels’ resilience features. The study also revealed that multilevel resilience features stressed the importance of combining persistence (i.e., keeping fishing as the main livelihood) and adaptation process (e.g., livelihood diversification). The study showcases the importance of considering multilevel resilience that offers insight into crucial resilience factors which would not be evident if only one level were studied. The overall finding of this study will contribute to framing governance strategies to ensure sustainable coastal management even in the time of any abrupt or expected changes, such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the fishing ban policy.

Introduction: Globally, tuberculosis is a major public health problem. Moreover, the emergence of drug resistant forms of TB has threatened TB prevention and treatment efforts. Despite the long history of tuberculosis prevention efforts, tuberculosis still ranks among the top ten causes of deaths in Nepal. Furthermore, Nepal being land locked with two high TB burden countries i.e. India and China, it has added difficulties to National Tuberculosis program. Hence this study aims to review the situation of National Tuberculosis Program in Nepal and explore the possible challenges and ways forward for NTP to strengthen the TB diagnostics and treatment services in Nepal. Methods: This study is based on the review of available literatures and data sources related to tuberculosis prevention, care and control. Secondary data published by National Tuberculosis Program in the annual report for the year 2015, 2016 and 2017 were considered for the situation analysis of tuberculosis in Nepal. We used different platforms like Google scholar, PubMed to search relevant literatures. Results: This has been a huge gap between WHO TB estimates and TB cases notification by the national system. It was 22% in 2015, 27% in 2016 and 29% in 2017. However National Tuberculosis Program has maintained treatment success rate consistently above 90%. Tuberculosis program has yet not achieved universal HIV testing, although HIV testing among TB patients has increased rapidly. Similarly, only 75%, 1994 received DST out of 2601 retreatment TB cases have received DST in 2017 despite guideline suggest mandatory drug susceptibility testing for retreatment TB cases. Conclusion: Case notification has reduced gradually. It is difficult to achieve the target envisioned by NSP 2016-21 if the current case notification trend persists. NTP needs to expand service sites ensuring minimum quality standards as well as scale up targeted intervention addressing human right issues to identify the missing TB cases. NTP needs to regulate the quality of diagnosis and treatment TB services offered by private sector.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has become a significant global public health issue resulting from SARS-CoV-2 (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2). COVID-19 outbreak approaches an unprecedented challenge for human health, the economy, and societies. The transmission of the COVID-19 is influenced by many factors, including climatic, environmental, socio-economic, and demographic. This study aimed to investigate the influences of climatic and sociodemographic determinants on COVID-19 transmission. The climatic variables considered herein were air temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, air pollution, and cumulative precipitation. Sociodemographic variables included population density, socio-economic conditions, misinformation, and personal hygiene practices towards the pandemic. Review results indicated that lower temperatures and greater incidence of COVID-19 are reported in a more significant number of studies. Another factor linked to COVID-19 occurrence was the humidity. However, the results were varied; some research reported positive, and others reported negative relationships. In addition, poor air quality, along with strong winds, makes the virus more vulnerable to spreading, leading to a spike in COVID-19 cases. PM2.5, O3, and NO2 also showed a strong correlation with the recent epidemic. The findings on rainfall were inconsistent between studies. Among the non-climatic factors, population density, education, and income were credited as potential determinants for the coronavirus outbreak. Climatic and sociodemographic factors showed a significant correlation on the COVID-19 outbreak. Thus, our review emphasizes the critical importance of considering climatic and non-climatic factors while developing intervention measures. This study's core findings will support the decision-makers in identifying climatic and socio-economic elements that influence the risks of future pandemics.

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The present study was carried out over a total of 330 suspected outdoor TB patients from the Shyamoli Chest Clinic, Dhaka. The prevalence of TB was 29.69%, male and female ratio for the prevalence being 2.4:1. The highest prevalence (18.37%) was observed among the 20-24 age group followed by 25-29 age group (17.35%). Prevalence of pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) among the total cases was 74.51%; on the other hand, extra-pulmonary tuberculosis (EPTB) was 25.51%. According to the severity of 73 PTB cases, 52.05% had severe pulmonary infection, 28.8% moderate pulmonary infection, and 19.2% mild TB infection.Among 98 TB positive cases, 14.29% had relapse cases and 85.71% had new cases. Among the 14 relapse cases, 85.71% patients had PTB while 14.29% patients had EPTB. On the other hand, out of 84 new cases, 72.62% had PTB and 27.38% had EPTB. According to occupation, the highest prevalence (21.43%) was observed among service holders, followed by garments workers and laborers (17.35%). The lowest prevalence (9.18%) was found among unemployed people.The higher prevalence of TB was mostly associated with poor socio-economic condition, close contact with infected cases, illiteracy, gender related factors and health care.

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Ongoing rapid urbanization and socio-environmental changes are posing challenges to proper urban management. Cultural ecosystem services (CES) offered by urban green spaces play a crucial role in the well-being of urban residents through ecosystems' non-material benefits. However, these services, especially from the residents' perspective, are often neglected in urban management strategies because of their intangible nature, particularly in the Global South. In this study, conducted in Dhaka, Bangladesh, we investigated residents' perceptions of the importance of CES offered by green spaces and how green space should be managed. As a methodological tool, we used a questionnaire-based stated preference method where non-monetary statements were the basis. Questions in the survey included respondents' social background and visiting frequency to green space, perceived importance of CES and green space, and perceptions about the management of green space. We analyzed 405 questionnaires using descriptive and inferential statistics. Our results indicate that rooftop gardens and green parks are considered the most important areas that provide CES, and among different types of CES (i.e., recreation, aesthetic, mental satisfaction, social relations), recreation is considered the most important. The high importance respondents place on the CES categories of aesthetics, sense of place, and social cohesion was also revealed. CES categories tended to be positively linked with each other. The valuation of CES was diverse depending on gender, income, educational background, and visiting frequency. Respondents prioritized government and community roles over the role of individuals and international and national non-government organizations in managing CES. Collaboration between individual and organizations was deemed a high priority. Our results highlight that a better understanding of CES and how different people perceive their benefits can be used to foster public participation and increase support for green space management initiatives.

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