Govt to roll out nationwide reproductive health campaign on 1 Dec

The government will launch a nationwide campaign on reproductive health and family planning on 1 December, State Minister for Health Dr MA Muhit said on Wednesday, stressing the need to prioritise adolescent health, mental well-being, nutrition and digital safety.

One in every five people in the country is an adolescent, making their health and development a national priority, he said, calling for policy reforms to be transformed into concrete action.

Muhith was speaking at the 11th National Youth Conference on Health and Family Welfare at the Liberation War Museum in Agargaon, Dhaka.

SERAC-Bangladesh organised the conference in collaboration with the Directorate General of Family Planning and the Directorate General of Health Services.

The state minister said social taboos often prevent adolescents from seeking information about reproductive health and physical changes, while psychological trauma and domestic violence can cause lasting harm when left unaddressed.

Urging society to encourage young people to ask questions without fear of stigma, Muhith said families played a vital role in protecting adolescents from psychological and social harm. Government and non-government interventions, he added, should adopt a family-centred approach.

He said authorities would use district- and upazila-level data to identify hotspots for child marriage and domestic violence and introduce targeted programmes with long-term monitoring.

On digital safety, Muhith said some young people turned to artificial intelligence tools, including ChatGPT, for information because of limited access to counselling and reliable sources. He advised them to verify information through multiple trusted sources.

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The government was also working to establish an accessible health network providing psychosocial counselling and reliable information for young people, he said.

Health Education Division Secretary Benjamin Riazi attended the conference as a special guest. Professor Fariha Hasin, chairman of the Department of Public Health and Informatics at Bangladesh Medical University, presented the keynote paper.

SERAC-Bangladesh Executive Director SM Saikat moderated the session, which was also addressed by youth representative Atika Rahman Chowdhury and adolescent representative Abdullah Al Mahmud.