Around 76% of people affected by leprosy (PAL) in Bangladesh are facing a severe financial crisis during the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a study by The Leprosy Mission International Bangladesh (TLMIB). The finding was disclosed at a workshop on "Leprosy Research Dissemination" in Dhaka Sunday, jointly arranged by National Leprosy Program (NLP) and TLMIB. The study titled "An assessment of Covid-19 impact on persons affected by leprosy in Bangladesh" was conducted by TLMIB which was funded by the Norwegian Agency for Exchange Cooperation (Norec). Professor Dr Md Shamiul Islam, director of micro bacterial disease control (MBDC) at the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), presided over the meeting. Dr Md Enamul Haque, deputy director of MBDC and manager of NLP, attended it as the chief guest. READ: Leprosy still infects 4000 people every year in Bangladesh A research team under the leadership of Jiptha Boiragee, programme support coordinator of TLMIB, conducted the research during March-August this year. The research findings presented by Roton Malo, project officer of TLMIB, shows that 26% of leprosy-affected persons had no source of income during the pandemic. Meanwhile, 47.85% of PAL had no income source for 1 to 10 months during the pandemic. Only 26.27% of PAL had a regular working opportunity for survival. Also, 46.61% of families of persons affected by leprosy faced food shortage during the pandemic while eight out of 255 respondents (51% men and 49% women) said they married off their under-aged girls to cut family expenses. The study conducted in 17 districts from all eight divisions also reveals that 89.8% of people affected by leprosy could not go to hospitals for needed leprosy-related services due to movement restrictions. Also, 35.62% of PAL with leprosy-related ulcer stayed home without services during the pandemic; 23.62% PAL received ulcer care at government hospitals, Roton said while presenting the findings. READ: 85pc Bangladeshi leprosy disabled people psychologically ill: Study In addition, until July 2021, no leprosy patient in Bangladesh was vaccinated while 43% of PAL disagreed to be vaccinated and 42% of family members of PAL said their PAL member "does not need to be vaccinated." Discussants at the research dissemination event emphasised mass awareness programmes by NLP, partnering organisations to motivate PAL and their family members to get vaccinated to be safe from Covid infections. Also, the study found 27% of persons affected by leprosy having major depression while 5% were living with minor depression and the well-being status of 49% PAL started to reduce. The TLMIB research team used the WHO-5 Well-being Index to examine the mental health status of PAL. At the event, Dr Samiul Islam directed the programme manager of NLP and other officials to take necessary steps to ensure smooth services for people affected by leprosy in Bangladesh. Researchers of TLMIB also disclosed findings of two more medical research titled "Effectiveness of single-dose rifampicin after BCG vaccination to prevent leprosy in close contacts of patients with newly diagnosed leprosy: A cluster randomised controlled trial," and "Patients with skin smear positive leprosy in Bangladesh are the main risk factor for leprosy development: 21-year follow-up in the household contact study (COCOA)." Dr Abu Sufian Chowdhury, research coordinator of TLMIB, and Md Khorshed Alam, project manager of TLMIB, presented the findings of two medical studies. Salomon Sumon Halder, country director of TLMIB; Dr Md Shafiqul Islam, former deputy director MBDC and programme manager of NLP; Dr Safir Uddin Ahmed, Dr Sheikh Abdul Hadi, ex-DPM, Leprosy; Dr Nayma Haque, DPM and coordinator, Leprosy; Dr Sabera Sultana, national professional officer, NTD at the World Health Organization; Dr Adnan Rassel, DPM, training and logistics; Dr Md Sohel Rana, assistant director, leprosy; Dr Shahed Hossain, consultant scientist of the (International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddrb) were also present at the event.

For Monika Devi, life is tough as a homemaker in a poor family in Chattogram’s Fakirhat village that is struggling to make ends meet. Her only hope to break free from the current situation is by educating her only child. After a gap of nearly six months, Monika finally received her child's stipend of Tk 900 in her mobile phone wallet this month -- a direct cash support that has come as a blessing for the family in times of Covid-induced economic crisis. "Cash support during any financial crisis always gives poor people like us a little more confidence. Moreover, I didn't have to go to the town to collect the stipend money this time. Nagad's facility is right next to our house," she told UNB. Monika's one of many such happy stories from poor households in Bangladesh that have had their lives changed since Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's government introduced the direct cash transfer system to curb corruption by breaking the cycle of dependence.  In fact, by the end of May, some 10 million primary school students in Bangladesh would get stipends worth Tk 900 crore through direct cash transfers. The system involves the payment of the stipends directly to the mother of each student through mobile banking services. Also read: Teacher shortage hits govt primary schools in Cumilla hard The Primary Education Stipend Project (PESP) provides a stipend of Tk 150 a month per child to poor mothers, with a rider that their ward must attend school. This is apart from a one-time allowance of Tk 1,000 a year for the purchase of educational materials. Earlier the stipend was paid in the form of cash from a designated school in the vicinity of the beneficiary's residence. Official sources said the money disbursed through mobile wallets this month was actually the amount pending for the last two quarters of 2020 -- July to September and October to December 2020. The disbursement was delayed to ensure full transparency in the system. "Earlier mobile financial services firm SureCash used to handle the disbursement. But now Nagad, a mobile financial service of the Bangladesh Post Office, has been roped in. This was after allegations of irregularities came to fore," said sources. Also read: Thousands of students throng cyber cafes to apply for stipends in Panchagarh When contacted, Md Yousuf Ali, project director, PESP, said teachers often faced problems in maintaining multiple registers and ledgers under the earlier traditional cash distribution system. "Disbursing stipends through mobile banking services eliminated all such hassles." "Though we have been distributing the stipends through SureCash, state-run Nagad has now been roped in for the same. The migration to another financial services platform delayed the disbursement of the stipends for the last two quarters of 2020," he added. According to Md Yousuf, stipends for the first two quarters of this calendar year (January to March and April to June), along with Tk 1,000 for the purchase of educational materials, will be disbursed by the first week of June. "Nagad will also carry out awareness campaigns."  An official of Nagad said that the mobile financial service of the Bangladesh Post Office has already disbursed the government’s stipend for primary and mass education to the mobile wallets of 10 million mothers, "maintaining highest degree of digital security". Ganesh Pal Dipu, the headmaster of Amberkhana Colony Government Primary School in Sylhet, hailed the initiative as a landmark achievement of the Bangladesh government. "The direct cash transfer through mobile wallets has eliminated all the tedious process. Nagad has created a national database to send money to the mobile wallets of mothers, and this is no doubt a landmark initiative," he said. Nasrin Parvin of Satkhira Sadar upazila has also received her daughter's stipend in her Nagad account. "I have already withdrawn the money from a Nagad entrepreneur, who has an outlet next to our house," she said. On the distribution of stipends, Tanvir A Mishuk, managing director of Nagad, said, "Timely decision made it possible for us to hand over the government’s financial assistance to marginalised people even during the lockdown." “It also a great joy for me that the stipends of the million young stars are distributed through Nagad. And I am very proud that Nagad can contribute its bit to build the future of Bangladesh as a process of supporting the students’ enrollment in schools."

South Korea’s central bank says the country’s economy shrank for the first time in 22 years in 2020 as the coronavirus pandemic destroyed service industry jobs and depressed consumer spending.