Master of Public Health (MPH)

BRAC James P Grant School of Public Health remained committed to continuous learning and shifted the MPH learning 100% online from March 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 33 students from UK, India, Philippines, Myanmar, Nigeria, Nepal, Fiji, Indonesia, Sierra Leone, Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Maldives and Bangladesh continued the programme online. In 2021, 37 students of the 17th Cohort from 13 countries successfully completed their MPH course. In 2022, the 18th cohort is continuing with 26 students from 8 countries. The School resumed in-person classes this year, however, due to COVID-19 restrictions, some students had to continue online education and to facilitate both in-person and online classes simultaneously, the School introduced Blended Learning Method.

See below for a detailed look at our MPH Programme since March 2020 to date

2020

Adaptation of Online Resources: MPH Shifts online

Due to COVID-19 pandemic, in-person classes were cancelled. So the School shifted its MPH programme online to continue classes. From March 2020 the School started offering real-time online learning for Master of Public Health (MPH). 38 students continued heir study online and successfully graduated in 2020, among them, 19 were national students and 19 were international students from 14 countries.

Virtual Tour of Hospital Settings in Low and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs): Exploring the Nutritional Status of Children

The School prepared practical video shoots on how to assess the nutritional status of children and women. Under the course Public Health Nutrition (MPH 670), this innovative teaching resource allowed students to get a virtual tour of the icddr,b, Dhaka hospital. They were able to see the rehabilitation wards and interview patients. It allowed them to understand and conceptualise the causes of malnutrition. This learning from a hospital setting enabled them to gain an overall understanding of the nutritional status of children and women, and the different methods of improving the intake of nutrients.

Summative Learning Project 2020: Working with Dataset Transcripts of Both Rural and Urban

Under the Summative Learning Project 2020 (MPH 700), the students conducted the first online based research of their career. The School provided quantitative and qualitative datasets with transcripts to the MPH students, which were primarily collected by the School for different research projects, along with the data collecton tools, project details, background information, etc. to make them familiar with the studies. Some students scoped reviews; this was introduced to them as an essential alternative to primary research. Supervisors from each SLP group shared the data on the following thematic areas: COVID-19, Urban Health, Non-communicable Diseases (NCD), Tuberculosis (TB), Deworming, etc.

2021

First Online Graduation of MPH Students

The graduation ceremony of the 16th cohort of MPH students of BRAC JPGSPH was successfully held online in January 2021. 38 students graduated and among them, 19 were national students and 19 were international students from 14 countries. Dr Henry B. Perry, Senior Associate of Health Systems Program at the Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health delivered a very inspirational Commencement Address at this graduation ceremony.

Click on the image on the right to watch the address

Continuation of Education Online

BRAC JPGSPH, BRAC University through its use of online resource tools such as Zoom, Moodle, Google Classroom, and BuX remained committed to continuous learning, offering real-time online learning from March 2020. 38 students from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Nigeria, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, and the United Kingdom continued the programme online.

2022

Launching of the Blended Teaching and Learning Platform

To facilitate learning in the COVID-19 era, in May 2022 the School launched a blended teaching and learning platform by adopting advanced technological infrastructure for the MPH programme. The main goal was to strengthen both offline and online communication between faculty and students. To make the classroom more interactive and engaging, the School ensured strong video communication between faculty, students, and the course teaching team through cutting-edge video and audio recording and broadcasting systems.

Podcast: Our MPH Students explore their experience when going back to their home country during COVID-19

Click on the images below to hear their experiences

Learn more about our MPH Progamme

Developing Midwives Project (DMP)

See below for Midwifery Programme education updates during COVID-19

2020

Shifting the Midwifery Education Classes Online

DMP adopted online-based platorms such as Facebook and Zoom in early May to continue the midwifery education classes. 80% of the students took the live class and almost all took the courses after downloading the recorded lecture videos. Students were grouped into 10-15 under one faculty to take tutorial classes and to remind within intensive follow-up. Regular online model tests were also held.

2021

Overview of online and in-person activities in 2021

The sixth and seventh batches of DMP have continued studying from their residence, through Zoom, Google classroom, and Facebook live platforms. On an average, 79% and 99% students attended live and recorded classes respectively. Regular theory classes, reviews, and model tests are ongoing. The education team has also continued preparatory studies for both internal and first year final public examination on 13 modules for seventh batch students. In March 2021, students of the seventh batch sat for the public exam of Bangladesh Nursing and Midwifery Council (BNMC). The faculty took online exams for preparation purposes.

Since September 2021, all 7 academic sites have resumed in-person classes and activities

Learn more about DMP at BRAC JPGSPH

Training

The training component during COVID-19 outbreak in early 2020 was led by Professor Kaosar Afsana, who is a member of the BRAC Global COVID-19 Taskforce and BRAC Emergency DMSC and COVID-19 Taskforce. The training materials were aggregated locally and from the World Health Organization (WHO), Bangladesh Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), and BRAC

Week-long training on awareness, prevention, and protection from COVID-19

COVID-19 training for support staff

WHO Training Platform

Learn about Training activities

BRAC JPGSPH webinars (New webinars hosted every week since April 2020)

Dissemination Event: COVID-19 Awareness, Preparedness and Impact on the Most Vulnerable Groups among Rohingya and Host Communities in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh

The pandemic is gendered: Exploring the impact of COVID-19 on women in Bangladesh, Kenya, and Nigeria

Is Bangladesh on track to achieve the SDG targets for health? A health systems perspective

COVID-19 Pandemic: Mental Health and Well-being of Workforces

“Challenges We Face Everyday: Consent, and Discrimination based on Skin Color”

“Follow the Data: Invest in Midwives”

View all webinars

ARISE : lead partner LSTM had organized webinars and shared many resource materials with us on COVID-19

Test Trace Isolate Protect - Nazeem Official Video

COVID Ready - Nazeem Official Video

What is COVID-19? Who are more vulnerable?

Preventable measures? Treatment at home?

Reliable sources of information on COVID-19?

How to maintain good mental health?

631 students Midwifery students received training on COVID-19

Three batches comprising 631 students in 7 academic sites under the Diploma in Midwifery Programme (DMP), BRAC JPGSPH received training on COVID-19. They were also provided with posters and leaflets for distribution in their communities.

380 students from the Midwives Project organised community meetings on the pandemic (uthan boithok) in their respective localities. 15 awareness programmes were undertaken at two Midwives-led Centres (MLCs) at Jaintapur (UH & FWC), Sylhet and at BRAC Maternity Centre, Dhaka between 22 March 2020 and 6 April 2020. Dr Selina Amin, Head of the Developing Midwives Project has been actively advocating with WHO for supplying necessary personal protective equipment for midwives.

Research | Bringing Evidence to Practice

COVID-19 is disproportionately affecting Bangladesh’s poor and most vulnerable, including informal slum settlement residents, the rural poor and extreme poor, sexual minorities, ethnic minorities, refugees, persons with disabilities, sex workers, domestic workers, factory workers, daily-wage earners, front-line workers and so forth.

Since the outbreak of COVID-19 in April 2020, the School has undertaken 45 rapid quantitative and qualitative research assessments, and has published 20 research briefs and 36 peer-reviewed publications on COVID-19.

Rapid research briefs

Adolescents’ experiences of COVID-19 in Chittagong and Sylhet divisions, Bangladesh.

The impact of COVID-19 on the social, economic, and psychosocial wellbeing of sex-workers in Bangladesh

The impact of covid-19 on the psychosocial wellbeing of the sexually marginalized community in Bangladesh

Psychological stress of pregnant women during coronavirus disease

Bangladesh Health System’s Response to COVID-19 during First Nine weeks

Exploring the impact of COVID-19 on adolescents

Gender based perception and differentials of COVID-19

Re-visiting Front Line Health Workers

Lives of people with disabilities during covid-19

Research brief will be uploaded once completed

“They Won’t Even Touch the Money We Touched”: Stigma, Shame and COVID-19

Immunization backlogs: The effects of COVID-19 pandemic on child vaccination in Bangladesh using Households Surveys

Slum Health: Arres�ng COVID-19 and Improving Well-Being in Urban Informal Settlements

Towards a socially just model: balancing hunger and response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Bangladesh

Front Line health Workers’ (FLWs) perceptions and opinions on their personal safety while attending suspected or confirmed COVID-19 patients in Bangladesh

Awareness and knowledge about COVID-19 during the early onslaught of the pandemic

COVID-19 Rapid Survey: Developing Appropriate Health Messaging for Urban and Rural Populations

Loss of Mental Well-being at the time of COVID-19 Pandemic

On the Fringes: Impact of the COVID-19 Shutdown on Hijras Daily Personal, Social and Economic Lives

Pins and needles at the time of a pandemic: Learning from the RMG workers through a rapid survey

Urban poor lived experiences in slums

Rapid research surveys and qualitative assessments (Since April 2020)

Learn more about our Research

Publications on COVID-19

Intersecting Disadvantages for Married Adolescents: Life After Marriage Pre- and Post-COVID-19 in Contexts of Displacement

Authors: Sarah Baird, Ph.D., Maureen Murphy, M.P.H, Jennifer Seager, Ph.D., Nicola Jones, Ph.D., Anju Malhotra, Ph.D., Sarah Alheiwidi, Guday Emirie, Ph.D., Sabina Rashid, Ph.D., and Maheen Sultan, M.S.S.

Published: 17 February 2022 in Journal of Adolescent Health; Volume 70, Issue 3, Supplement, March 2022, Pages S86-S96

Knowledge and practices related to COVID-19 among mothers of under-2 children and adult males: a cross-sectional study in Bangladesh

Authors: Animesh Talukder, Muhammed Nazmul Islam, Malabika Sarker, Indranil Goswami, Rubaiya Riya Siddiqua, Fahmida Akter, Srizan Chowdhury, Imran Ahmed Chowdhury, Albaab-Ur Rahman, Mahbub Latif

Published: 29 May 2022 in BMJ Open; Volume 12, Issue 5

The Role of the Private Sector in the COVID-19 Pandemic: Experiences From Four Health Systems

Authors: Lauren J. Wallace, Irene Agyepong, Sushil Baral, Deepa Barua, Mahua Das, Rumana Huque, Deepak Joshi, Chinyere Mbachu, Baby Naznin, Justice Nonvignon, Anthony Ofosu, Obinna Onwujekwe, Shreeman Sharma, Zahidul Quayyum, Tim Ensor, and Helen Elsey

Published: 27 May 2022 in Frontiers in Public Health; Volume 10, Article 878225

The well-being of Rohingya children in Rohingya camps of Bangladesh during the Covid 19 pandemic: a qualitative exploration

Authors: Atiya Rahman, Nazrana Khaled, Mahmuda Akter, Sakila Yesmin, Syeda Sazia Zaman, Erum Marium & Kaosar Afsana

Published: 8 August 2022 in Early Child Development and Care

Exploring the knowledge, attitudes, practices and lived experiences of frontline health workers in the times of COVID-19 : a qualitative study from Bangladesh

Authors: Samiun Nazrin Bente Kamal Tune, Bushra Zarin Islam, Mir Raihanul Islam, Zarin Tasnim, Syed Masud Ahmed

Published: 11 January 2022 in BMJ Open, Volume 12, Issue 1

Implications of updated protocol for classification of childhood malnutrition and service delivery in world’s largest refugee camp amid this COVID-19 pandemic

Authors: Afsana Anwar, Probal Kumar Mondal, Uday Narayan Yadav, Abu Ahmed Shamim, Abu Ansar Md. Rizwan and Sabuj Kanti Mistry

Published: 12 January 2022 in Public Health Nutrition

Click here to see all our Peer-reviewed Publications

ADVOCACY | To influence programmes and policies

The School actively initiated events to acknowledge the public health emergency, COVID-19. The public health emergency related to the virus has led active aggregating and sharing of useful resource materials locally and globally to a wider audience, including BRAC university, health organisations, key stakeholders, partners, and networks which include seminars, online dissemination events, policy dialogues, internal blogs, articles published in newspapers, social media campaigns, sharing daily COVID-19 updates, etc. from February 2020.

Important message about staying safe featuring Dr Kaosar Afsana

Sharing about where to get COVID-19 official information and important message about staying safe featuring Professor Afsana. An initiative by HealthServe, Singapore General Hospital and Ministry of Communications and Information. Dr Kaosar Afsana teaches at BRAC James P Grant School of Public Health, BRAC university in Bangladesh.

Sabina Faiz Rashid: Research on Community Resilience

BRAC JPGSPH joins a global team in a groundbreaking project

COVID-19 Seminar at BRAC University on February 19, 2020

Accountability and responsiveness in informal settlements for equity (arise)

GIS maps of ARISE study sites (Kallyanpur, Dholpur and Shyampur):

Kallayanpur Map

Dholpur Map

Shyampur Map

IPC materials developed under ARISE Responsive Fund:

COVID-19 Awareness Campaign Poster

Calendar 2021: ARISE Responsive Fund

Voices from the Frontline – International Centre for Climate Change and Development (ICCCAD)

As the COVID-19 pandemic grips the world with unfolding health, economic and social impacts, grassroots communities are developing their own coping mechanisms in the face of the crisis. It is important to capture and document these stories in real time as the world faces up to an even longer term challenge of climate change.

Voices from the Frontline is a joint initiative by ICCCAD and CDKN to support communities across the globe in sharing their stories on the challenges of and the responses to the pandemic and the consequent lockdown. By accumulating and disseminating stories from different communities we hope to build resilience for the vulnerable in future emergencies.