On 14 June 2022, a technical workshop on regulatory and fiscal approaches to promote physical activity (PA and Law) was organized in Dhaka under the Global RECAP Program: Building regulatory and fiscal policy capacity to promote healthy diets and physical activity (Global RECAP).
Global RECAP is a collaborative programme between WHO, IDLO and IDRC, implemented from January 2019 phase in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.. The program objective is to build capacity to develop and implement regulatory and fiscal measures to promote healthy diets and physical activity.
The workshop was organized by WHO and the ARK Foundation (an IDRC grantee) to initiate discussions with key stakeholders on physical activity in Bangladesh and to build capacity on physical activity policy and the use of legal approaches to promote physical activity. The workshop benefited from the attendance and insights of Madame Kazi Zebunnessa Begum, Additional Secretary (World Health) Health Services Division, and Professor Dr Robed Amin, Line Director, Noncommunicable Diseases Control Programme, DGHS, from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. Presentations on physical activity policies, plans and legal approaches were delivered by staff from the WHO Bangladesh country office, South East Asian Regional Office and HQ, as well as valuable insights from the Khulna Healthy Cities Project and on relevant domestic laws from the Center for Law and Policy Affairs in Bangladesh (implementing partner of both IDLO and IDRC under Global RECAP).
Participants came from different sectors of government, academia, civil society and intergovernmental organizations with an interest or a potential role in increasing levels of population physical activity and provided a range of insights, perspectives and ideas during the workshop.
Following this workshop, a situation analysis on physical activity in Bangladesh will be undertaken by the ARK Foundation, working closely with DGHS, and WHO. The WHO presenters introduced the WHO situation analysis tool and objectives of the process and the Director of the NCD Department at the Ministry of Health Sri Lanka shared insights on the recent physical activity situation analysis undertaken in Sri Lanka under Global RECAP, that may assist this process in Bangladesh.
This was the first workshop on physical activity organized in Bangladesh and the interest and enthusiasm among the government and other participants augurs well for future initiatives in this area.