Bangladesh

Avian influenza surveillance across the country's dense poultry sector and antimicrobial resistance in aquaculture are central One Health priorities, alongside cholera and diarrheal disease monitoring tied closely to flooding and salinity intrusion.

Climate-driven flooding and cyclone displacement, persistent maternal and child undernutrition, and rising urban air pollution in Dhaka represent the dominant health burdens.

A dense network of community health workers gives Bangladesh unusually strong last-mile primary care reach relative to its income level, though hospital-level and specialist care capacity remains constrained.

Arsenic contamination in groundwater, salinity intrusion into coastal freshwater supplies, and severe urban air pollution are among the most consequential environmental health burdens anywhere in the region.

A large and largely informal poultry and aquaculture sector creates persistent avian influenza and antimicrobial resistance surveillance gaps outside commercial operations.

Bangladesh faces among the most severe climate exposure of any country globally, with sea level rise, cyclone intensity, and river flooding all directly threatening health infrastructure and freshwater access.

The Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research anchors national surveillance, with demonstrated capacity built through repeated cyclone and flood response over recent decades.

Climate-resilient infrastructure investment, including WASH systems designed for salinity intrusion and flooding, is an explicit and increasingly urgent national planning priority.

Bangladesh remains a significant recipient of climate adaptation and health financing, with growing multilateral climate fund access specifically tied to health co-benefits.

The World Bank, Gavi, the Global Fund, UNICEF, and bilateral partners including the United Kingdom and Japan maintain substantial health and climate adaptation programs.

WASH infrastructure investment consistently lags the pace of climate change already degrading existing systems, particularly in coastal and delta regions facing active salinity intrusion.

Bangladesh is arguably the clearest global test case for whether climate-resilient WASH investment can outpace the climate risk it's meant to address, and the outcome will shape how the rest of the region approaches the same problem.