Keep nutrition at the centre of health systems to tackle diseases

A roundtable on health and nutrition was held at the Public Health Nutrition Instotute on Sunday 26 Aprl 2026.

Dhaka, Apr 26 - Experts at a roundtable on Sunday called for placing nutrition at the core of the health, climate, and development agenda of Bangladesh and for adopting a multi-sectoral approach to address malnutrition.

They said tackling malnutrition is critical to combating infectious diseases and building a resilient, self-reliant nation. 

The Institute of Public Health Nutrition (IPHN), Daily Samakal, and Max Foundation organised the discussion titled “Strengthening Health Systems: Nutrition as a Cross-Cutting Solution for Climate, Malaria, TB, and Other Infectious Diseases,” in the capital on Sunday marking National Nutrition Week 2026, which is being observed from April 23-29.

Speaking at the roundtable as the chief guest Bangladesh National Nutrition Council Director General Dr Md Rizwanur Rahman said despite significant progress in nutrition status, malnutrition remains a pressing issue, with stunting still affecting a substantial proportion of children.

Highlighting ongoing initiatives, he said the government is updating the National Nutrition Policy and working to strengthen multi-sectoral coordination, including efforts to develop a real-time, integrated information system. 

IPHN Director Dr Mohammed Eunus Ali and Deputy Director Dr Rawshan Zahan Akhter Alo joined the discussion as special guests while Dr AFM Iqbal Kabir, a consultant working for World Bank and Unicef previously, presented the keynote paper. 

Describing nutrition as the foundation of development, Dr Mohammed Eunus Ali said nutrition has to be kept at the centre of the health, climate, and development agenda of the country. 

He emphasised activating nutrition-related committees at the national, district and upazila levels, saying had the committees, which is comprised of key stakeholders, worked properly, the nutrition situation of the country would have been far better. 

The IPHN chief focused on the resource constraints in efforts to address nutrition and urged allocation of a greater amount of funds for better nutrition services. 

Dr Rawshan Zahan Akhter Alo highlighted the lack of manpower, particularly ‘well-trained skilled manpower’, at the grassroots level for executing nutrition activities, which, according to her, badly affected the activities. “Only one person works at the nutrition corner at some district-level hospitals,” she said. 

She underscored the need for better infrastructure and ensuring safety and security of the grassroots-level nutrition workers for smooth service delivery. 

Delivering the keynote, Dr AFM Iqbal Kabir underscored that nutrition is not a standalone sector but a “system-wide solution” linking health systems, climate resilience, and infectious disease control. 

He highlighted the “nutrition–infection–climate nexus,” where malnutrition weakens immunity, increases susceptibility to diseases such as tuberculosis, HIV, and malaria, while infections further deteriorate nutritional status. Climate shocks, including floods and salinity intrusion, intensify these vulnerabilities by disrupting food systems and health services, according to him. 

Max Foundation Country Director Dr Tariqul Islam said the private sector needs to be engaged in efforts to address malnutrition because Bangladesh cannot depend only on grants for its nutrition programmes when the donors are transitioning from aid to trade-based strategy. 

He further said, “The country will attain middle-income status and we should develop regulatory frameworks for quality nutrition products and services by the private sector and effective affordable market-based solutions.” He said, “We have to buy nutrition after graduation.”

The roundtable was chaired by Daily Samakal Editor Shahed Mohammad Ali and moderated by Associate Editor Sheikh Rokon. 

icddr,b Nutrition and Research Division Scientist Dr Md Munirul Islam, Cowater International Communication Advisor Belal Uddin, Nutrition International Country Director Dr AKM Musha, Dhaka University’s Institute of Nutrition and Food Science Associate Professor Dr Ali Abbas Md Khorshed, UNICEF Bangladesh Nutrition Specialist Dr Mohd Aziz Khan, CARE Bangladesh Team Leader-Nutrition Mohammad Hafijul Islam, BRAC University’s James P Grant School of Public Health Deputy Director (Education and Research) Dr Santhiya Ireen, Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) Project Manager Md Abul Bashar Chowdhury, Helen Keller International Head of Nutrition and Health Dr Afsana Habib Sheuly, Max Foundation Program Manager Dr Mithun Gupta, BRAC’s Head of Fund Secretariat (Climate Bridge Fund) Saiqa Siraj, and Bangladesh Health Reporter's Forum President Proteek Izaz also spoke at the discussion. - UNB