Rashidul Islam, Md. Fuad Hasan, Most. Suria Khatun, Ayesha Akter, Ahmed Parvez and Papri Hazra
Abstract
Pandemics are disasters whose causes and consequences are both rooted in the environment, yet emergency management and environmental management are usually reviewed apart. This narrative review synthesizes 74 documents published between 2008 and 2026, comprising peer-reviewed studies, reports of intergovernmental and national agencies, and selected news and NGO records, to examine the emergency response to COVID-19 in Bangladesh, with the European Union as a comparator, and to connect that response to its environmental dimensions. Bangladesh confirmed its first cases on 8 March 2020 and by mid-2025 had recorded more than 2.05 million cases and about 29,500 deaths. The early response was weakened by late and poorly coordinated decisions, limited testing, about 0.7 intensive-care beds per 100,000 people, shortages of protective equipment and weak risk communication, although two-dose vaccination coverage later reached about 70%. Environmentally, nitrogen dioxide over Dhaka fell by roughly two-thirds during the 2020 lockdown, but the gain was temporary, whereas at least 14,500 tonnes of health-care waste were generated nationally in April 2020 alone and only about 7% of COVID-19-related waste was properly managed. Cyclone Amphan and the 2020 monsoon floods struck during the lockdown and created compound emergencies, while disrupted food supply chains and tourism deepened livelihood losses. The evidence supports a One Health-based, all-hazards approach: preventing spillover through ecosystem protection, building low-waste and climate-resilient health facilities, institutionalizing wastewater and zoonotic surveillance, planning for concurrent hazards and protecting food systems. The amended International Health Regulations and the 2025 WHO Pandemic Agreement provide a timely framework for this integration.
Keywords: Pandemic preparedness; One Health; Medical waste; Compound hazards; Bangladesh.
