Rationale
Occupational health research capacity is almost absent in most parts of the developing world where it is most needed, particularly given that clear empirical links exist between good occupational health practices, a healthier labor force, and improved productivity. However, this sequence of positive impacts is not clear to the regulators, policy makers and researchers in developing countries, who still perceive OH as peripheral and a luxury. Health and safety innovations in the workplace, with low-cost and locally relevant solutions, can be initiated in these countries. A few internationally funded research projects clearly show an effect on capacity building and change in practices or policies.

British Columbia (BC) is trying to develop innovative teams of scientists who will conduct world-class research intended to improve the health of people affected by occupational risks. New efficiencies, partnerships and opportunities are sought after that should make BC a hub for training, attracting and retaining top quality occupational health (OH) researchers. A research location overseas in the developing world was selected to help BC researchers learn how to address OH research needs outside BC and Canada. Through such an overseas site, BC researchers should have the opportunity to become or remain internationally competitive by creating collaborative research teams and projects. Research careers in OH need to be encouraged by supporting new investigators and graduate students, and research results should be put to use in BC and elsewhere by facilitating knowledge transfer to communities and policymakers.

Bangladesh, a developing country of 150 million in South Asia, is struggling to build research capacity in OH. The current deficiencies of OH research there can be attributed to a lack of skill sets and interest in OH, and poor data and data collection systems. This project was conceived with the expectation that BC researchers swill help in building capacity in Bangladesh which will lead to changes in OH practices or policies.

The Trip
A team consisting of UBC and SFU faculty members and students all of whom are BCEOHRN members applied for a development grant from BCEOHRN in fall of 2007. They were awarded this grant and three members of the team went for an exploratory trip to Bangladesh in a fact finding mission in April, 2008. The trip was for about two weeks and the purposes of this trip were
1) meeting stakeholders- donors, employers and employee associations, training/education institutes, local researchers
2) Check the ground reality, and source for infrastructure and support
3) Start a pilot project with ship-breaking industry
They visited Dhaka, Chittagong and Bogra during their stay.

Chittagong
The team stayed in Chittagong from April 22 to 25. They stayed at the local field site of ICDDR,B which has a modest guesthouse and a vehicle which were accessed with a reasonable cost. The team made a couple of trips to the ship-breaking yards, the workers’ accommodations, the community, and the shops that sell salvaged items from the ships. They met a local NGO– Young Power in Social Action (YPSA) which works extensively to raise awareness about ship breaking workers. They also met with a professor and students of the University of Chittagong’s Marine Science and Fisheries department. Dr. Charles Larson, a scientist from ICDDR,B, accompanied the team and attended some of the meetings.

Bogra:
The team members went to Bogra from April 27 to 29. It is this from this impoverished region of Bangladesh where migrant workers come from to work in Chittagong shipyards and this is where they eventually return. It was possible to locate some villages and the team members had the opportunity to talk to a large number of ex-workers. The team also met the local chief medical health officer and ensured her support for the research project.

Dhaka:
The team stayed in Dhaka from April 28 to May 04 to meet stakeholders. They had meetings with World Bank, WHO, DFID, CIDA among potential funding agencies of such research projects in Bangladesh. They also visited BRAC University’s School of Public Health faculty members and students, NIPSOM and ICDDR,B – the likely research partners and education institutes. One of team members, Dr. Hugh Davies, gave formal talks at NIPSOM to their occupational health graduate students, and at ICRRD,B, to their scientific team.

Conclusion:
This trip was intended to establish a partnership between BC and Bangladeshi research institutions to build new research teams that will focus on OH issues in the developing world, and that will develop and submit research grants for BC/Bangladesh-based researchers for joint projects based in Bangladesh and initiate training and knowledge exchange programs.

This capacity development project initiated dialogue of faculty and student exchange; helped to establish needs and priorities; identified resources and capabilities and assisted in initiating at least one student-based project to act as a model and exemplar research exercise.

The funds allowed two BC based researchers to go to Bangladesh to start building links and visit worksites, and to send one UBC-based student to go to Chittagong to undertake a jointly supervised project with Bangladeshi researchers.

This trip allowed face to face meetings, and demonstrated to potential funders the ability of the international group to function as a team. It provided the BC members of the team to understand first-hand the environment in which research will be conducted, the complexities of coordinating overseas research that is essential for writing realistic and effective research proposals. It also supported in part a small pilot project by a graduate student from the School of Environmental Health at UBC, who will undertake an asbestosis health outcome project. She also proposes a technology/expertise transfer component in her project that will involve training local labs in asbestos analysis (bulk and fibres in air) and equipping the lab.

Starting with the ship breaking workers, a series of proposals can be developed later to study a whole range of industrial work settings, e.g., garment, health care, construction, brick fields, jute mills, and tanneries, to create awareness about OH issues. The projects will eventually propose cheap and practical solutions in the workplace.

Contacts will be made later to incorporate direct research users including the Ministries of Health, Labor, Environment and Industries, civil society groups, unions and employers’ association, and NGOs who will work together to improve OH situation in the country.