Health Inclusivity Index: Economist Impact puts Bangladesh last among 40 countries again

Bangladesh has maintained its position as the lowest-ranked among 40 countries in the second phase of the Health Inclusivity Index released on 20 November by Economist Impact, an arm of The Economist Group and supported by consumer health company Haleon.

Bangladesh only scored 26.6 out of 100 this time, down from 30.8 in the first phase of the research as population experiences are integrated in the second phase.

The index is based on three domains; Health in Society, Inclusive Health Systems and People and Community Empowerment where Bangladesh ranked last in all of the domains.

Bangladesh's scores and global rankings on the three domains were 36.3 and 40th on Health in Society Rank, 22.6 and 40th in Inclusive Health Systems and 22.3 and 40th on People and Community Empowerment.

Dr Syed Abdul Hamid, a professor at the Institute of Health Economics, University of Dhaka, told The Business Standard, "Even if more countries were added to the index list, Bangladesh would still come out as last."

He mentioned, "Health must be the first thing to keep in mind when it comes to policy implementation in every sector such as agriculture, industry and construction. The workforce and required equipment need to be increased, proper moderation and modernisation has to be ensured in the health system."

When asked about how Bangladesh can improve on the index he added, "It is not possible for Bangladesh to improve its position in the index overnight. The state needs to initiate policy implementation immediately if the country wants to see improvement in the next 6 months. Bangladesh needs to implement a well framed planning, reformation and execution in both internal and external sectors."

"Even if more countries were added to the index list, Bangladesh would still come out as last."

Dr Syed Abdul Hamid, a professor at DU Institute of Health Economics

The report defines "health inclusivity" as the process of removing the personal, social, cultural and political barriers that prevent individuals and communities from experiencing good physical, mental and social health.

Bangladesh was immediately preceded by Algeria, Egypt, Honduras, Uganda and India as the bottom ranked country in the health inclusivity index.

To achieve a robust comparative snapshot of each country, Economist Impact have analysed data across three domains; Health in Society, Inclusive Health Systems and People and Community Empowerment, each of which is split into a further three subdomains and a total of 58 individual indicators under them. The report assessed a score of 0-100 where 100=most inclusive.

Australia and Sweden surpass the UK as the most health inclusive countries when population experiences are integrated into the Health Inclusivity Index. The United States, France, Israel, Canada, South Korea, Germany and Thailand round up the top 10 in the second research phase.

Europe remains the most inclusive region for health. Whereas Eastern Mediterranean and Southeast Asian countries tend to be the least inclusive.