Interdisciplinary Seminar:
Education for Health
Convener: Eliane Didier, France

Emerging Issues related to Education about HIV/Aids in Bangladesh
Najma Siddiqi, Bangladesh Federation of University Women

Overworked, undernourished and with access to fewer resources (including lack of access to health care) Bangladeshi females tend to suffer from ill health more than males. The government’s budgetary allocation for healthcare services is substantial but not enough, given the scale of the problem. Besides, there is a built-in discrimination in the service delivery system, favouring males and depriving females, including girl children. Structural and social inequality and blatant gender discrimination take a toll on women’s health and wellbeing. Moreover, during the last decade the threat of HIV/AIDS has an added additional concern. Notably, although both men and women can carry this killer disease, women are much more vulnerable because of their weaker status –economically and socially – in society.

In my paper I will focus, within the general framework of Education and Health, on emerging issues related to HIV/AIDS in Bangladesh. Based on my current research, I will compare government and NGO interventions on awareness-raising and evaluate programs on prevention of the disease among women from different backgrounds (housewives, sex workers, migrant workers, students etc.). The role of civil society in strengthening social mobilization to create necessary awareness among disadvantaged women and girls will also be discussed. In addition, recommendations to halt and reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS will be made. The paper will focus on presenting these in line with Millennium Development Goal 6.

Professor Najma Siddiqi was educated in Bangladesh, the United Kingdom and the United States. A former Chairperson of the Department of Philosophy at Jahangirnagar University, Dhaka, she is currently an Adjunct Faculty in the newly established Women and Gender Studies Department of Dhaka University. Her association with many women’s research and voluntary organizations throughout her professional career includes long-term membership of IFUW. She served two terms on its Status of Women Committee, was a member of the IFUW delegation to the 2005 session of the UN CSW and has participated in six IFUW Conferences.