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Abstract Background Worldwide, mental health issues constitute a substantial threat to people’s social, economic, and mental well-being and contribute significantly to many fatalities each year. In Bangladesh, people with mental health issues typically delay contacting health professionals because they prefer traditional or religious healers. Moreover, the situation is exacerbated by a lack of awareness, social stigma, and negative perception of sufferers of mental health issues on the part of families and the community. Therefore, this paper investigates the social perception and stigmatization of individuals living with mental health problems and their caregivers in Khulna, Bangladesh. Methods Data were collected from university students with concurring mental health issues as well as their closest caregivers, who had in-depth knowledge of the problem and a willingness to take care of the individuals with mental health issues. Following the criteria for data collection, eight individuals living with mental health problems and five caregivers were purposively selected for this research. A semi-structured in-depth interview guide was used for the confidential data collection process, which took place in November and December 2021, and each interview lasted 40–50 min on average. Results This study used thematic analysis to present the results; the findings showed that: individuals afflicted with mental health problems sought both medical and spiritual support to recover. Those with mental health issues who received positive family support recovered relatively faster than those who did not. However, negative social perception and stigmatization were the key impediments for individuals suffering from mental health problems and their families, as they found it difficult to discuss their issues with relatives and communities when attempting to access support or seek remedies. Moreover, the commonality of social stigmas, such as labeling mental health problems as equal to ‘madness,’ hindered disclosure to family members, peers, and the community. Conclusion and recommendations In Bangladesh, the majority of individuals living with mental health problems are stigmatized and do not receive emotional support. Hence, we suggest nationwide community-based awareness-building programs to promote more positive perceptions of the fight against mental health disorders. Furthermore, counseling and awareness-building programs for effective discouragement of non-scientific remedies such as spiritual healing, as well as diagnosis and medication at the primary stage of sickness, are recommended for early detection and better medical assistance.

Aim: The study aims to investigate the implication of employment status on individuals’ mental and physical health status in Bangladesh. Method: Administering a semi-structured interview schedule, data were collected from 320 participants applying the multi-stage random sampling technique from the metropolitan area of Khulna city. An unpaired t-test was executed to observe the comparative scenario of mental health and socio-demographic conditions of different health-bearing classes. Also, logistic regression and the OLS model were executed to assess the association between employment status and physical and mental health status. BMI and Depression Anxiety Stress Scales 21 (DASS-21) were applied to measure the physical and mental health status, respectively. Results: Results revealed that employed individuals were more exposed to physical and mental health disorders compared to unemployed individuals. The employed individuals were at higher risk of being unhealthy, and suffering from back pain and sickness than the unemployed individuals. Results suggested that the employed individuals were expected to get involved more in mental health risk behavior (0.766, p

To eliminate TB from the country by the year 2030, the Bangladesh National Tuberculosis (TB) Program is providing free treatment to the TB patients since 1993. However, the patients are still to make Out-of-their Pocket (OOP) payment, particularly before their enrollment Directly Observed Treatment Short-course (DOTS). This places a significant economic burden on poor-households. We, therefore, aimed to estimate the Catastrophic Health Expenditure (CHE) due to TB as well as understand associated difficulties faced by the families when a productive family member age (15–55) suffers from TB. The majority of the OOP expenditures occur before enrolling in. We conducted a cross-sectional study using multistage sampling in the areas of Bangladesh where Building Resources Across Communities (BRAC) provided TB treatment during June 2016. In total, 900 new TB patients, aged 15–55 years, were randomly selected from a list collected from BRAC program. CHE was defined as the OOP payments that exceeded 10% of total consumption expenditure of the family and 40% of total non-food expenditure/capacity-to-pay. Regular and Bayesian simulation techniques with 10,000 replications of re-sampling with replacement were used to examine robustness of the study findings. We also used linear regression and logit model to identify the drivers of OOP payments and CHE, respectively. The average total cost-of-illness per patient was 124 US$, of which 68% was indirect cost. The average CHE was 4.3% of the total consumption and 3.1% of non-food expenditure among the surveyed households. The poorest quintile of the households experienced higher CHE than their richest counterpart, 5% vs. 1%. Multiple regression model showed that the risk of CHE increased among male patients with smear-negative TB and delayed enrolling in the DOTS. Findings suggested that specific groups are more vulnerable to CHE who needs to be brought under innovative safety-net schemes.