While the winter season in Bangladesh isn’t particularly long and has been losing longevity over time especially in the past few decades, most notably in our urban areas, it can still be incredibly harsh catching those unprepared off guard.
The severity of the last few winters has especially taken a severe toll on the health and wellbeing of people while also exposing the many shortcomings of Bangladesh’s overall healthcare infrastructure.
According to a recent Dhaka Tribune report eleven children recently perished at Rangpur Medical College Hospital from pneumonia and other cold-related diseases, with 300 children currently admitted to the hospital many are forced to stay on the floors due to a lack of space in the children's wards. Rangpur recently recorded a minimum temperature of 12C.
While in Kurigram, which saw the lowest temperature recorded at 13.4C, cold-related illnesses have seen a sharp uptick affecting the elderly and children the most, which means nurses and doctors in hospitals are left scrambling trying to keep up with the surge in patients.
Winters, despite the shortness of their duration, are seemingly getting evermore harsher in Bangladesh which can be attributed to the effects of climate change, but the effects are clearly felt the most in the less developed parts of the country. The administration needs to start taking the increasing harshness of our winters into account when it comes to our healthcare system; while, as an ad hoc measure, blanket distribution drives can be an effective tool in helping keep people warm. However, the overarching goal should be to bolster our healthcare system in order to keep up with cold-related diseases.
We need to collectively start giving winters the same level of prioritization as floods or the seasonal dengue so that it does not turn into an even bigger public health crisis in the future.
Thursday, June 04, 2026
