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Introduction Cholera is a highly infectious disease and remains a serious public health burden in Bangladesh. The objective of the study was to measure the private demand for oral cholera vaccines (OCV) in Bangladesh and to investigate the key determinants of this demand, reflected in the household’s willingness to pay (WTP) for oral cholera vaccine. Methods A contingent valuation method was employed in an urban setting of Bangladesh during December 2015 to January 2016. All respondents (N = 1051) received a description of World Health Organization (WHO) prequalified OCV, Shanchol™. Interviews were conducted with either the head of households or their spouse or a major economic contributor of the households. Respondents were asked about how much at maximum they were willing to pay for OCV for their own and their household members’ protection. Results are presented as the average and median of the reported maximum WTP of the respondents with standard deviations and 95% confidence interval. Natural log-linear regression model was employed to examine the factors influencing participants’ WTP for OCV. Results About 99% of the respondents expressed WTP for OCV with a maximum mean and median WTP per vaccination (2 doses) of US$ 2.23 and US$ 1.92 respectively. On the household level with an average number of 4.62 members, the estimated mean WTP was US$ 10 (median: US$ 7.69) which represents the perceived demand for OCV of a household to vaccinate against cholera. Conclusions The demand of vaccination further indicates that there is a potential scope for recovering a certain portion of the expenditure of immunization program by introducing direct user fees for future cholera vaccination in Bangladesh. Findings from this study will be useful for the policy-makers to make decision on cost-recovery in future oral cholera vaccination programs in Bangladesh and in similar countries

Decentralization is a widely used concept, and it is closely linked with democracy, development and good governance. Many research findings clearly demonstrate that decentralization provides an institutional mechanism through which citizens at various levels can organize themselves and participate in the decision making process. The present study examines the dimension of the decentralization process in the rural administration in India as compared to Bangladesh. Both India and Bangladesh have three tiers rural administration: lower, middle and upper. A previous study examined that the lowest-tier rural administration in Bangladesh has huge dependency on the middle tier. However, rural administration in India has been empowered by decentralization. The decentralization process in India especially in West Bengal has been found to be a more effective way of meeting local needs. The 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act empowers the rural local governance (Panchayats Raj) Institutions and facilitates three tiers rural self-governance in India. The relation in three tiers is cooperative; their roles and functions are clearly specified. Therefore, the present study investigates the decentralization process at the middle-tier (Panchayat Samiti) rural administration in India to see what insights could be gained that would be applicable to the middle-tier (Upazila Parishad) rural administration in Bangladesh. The study also examines the prospect of building a decentralized rural administration at the Upazila Level.

It has been said that local government is the level of government closest to the citizens. Various studies indicate that local government with decentralized authority is the key to improving accountability of public service delivery. However, local government in Bangladesh is usually dependent on the central government for most of their activities, and rural administrative units such as Zila, Upazila/Thana, Union are not properly structured. The present study examines the rural government administration in Bangladesh especially at the Upazilla level. The Local Government Ordinance 1982, provided details on the structure and functions of the Upazila. The Upazila replaced the oldest institution called Thana. It has been created as a local administration under the decentralization program of the government. Though the creation of Upazilla was a step towards decentralized administration, it has some weaknesses. The Upazila system has been abolished since 1991. Several studies show that Upazila system was a unique attempt to break the traditional bureaucracy at the grass-root levels, it should be continued in spite of initial problems. Recently, Care-taker governments in Bangladesh also have been considered to restart the Upazila system. Therefore, present study aimed to analyze the local government administration at the Upazila level, and examine the prospects of building a decentralized rural government in Bangladesh.