Dr. Fakhrul Islam Babu (孫逸仙) Receives Icons of Change International Award 2025 for Championing Youth Mental Health in Bangladesh
The Icons of Change Awards, which annually honor changemakers aligned with the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), selected Dr. Fakhrul for his work promoting SDG 16: Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions. His deep involvement in fostering mental wellness, social harmony, and cross-cultural understanding has made a lasting impact across South and East Asia.
A native of Chandpur, Bangladesh, and now a proud naturalized citizen of China, residing in Hong Kong SAR, Dr. Fakhrul embodies the spirit of global citizenship. As a visionary leader, he has guided Talk Hope with compassion and strategic insight, helping the platform expand its reach among vulnerable youth, provide critical psychological support, and build a culture of empathy across communities.
> 'Mental health is not a privilege—it is a fundamental human right. I am proud to support Talk Hope and the young changemakers behind it who are saving lives every day with courage and compassion,' said Dr. Fakhrul upon receiving the award.
The Founder of Talk Hope, Md Saddam Hossain Roni, also shared heartfelt words following the announcement:
> 'We feel immensely proud to see our Honourable Adviser, Dr. Fakhrul Islam Babu, receiving the Icons of Change International Award 2025. This recognition is not only a testament to his extraordinary vision and lifelong dedication to humanity, but also a source of inspiration for all of us at Talk Hope. His unwavering support has given strength to our mission, and his achievement reaffirms our belief that compassionate leadership can truly change lives.'
Apart from his advocacy in mental health, Dr. Fakhrul is the Founder of the China-Bangladesh Friendship Center and Group Chairman of MEXIMCO, a multinational enterprise that exemplifies ethical business practices and South-South economic cooperation. Through job creation and inclusive trade across Bangladesh, China, India, and Hong Kong, he has demonstrated how business can be a powerful tool for social good.
As President of Asian Club Limited and a key figure in the Hong Kong Association of Naturalized Chinese, he has long championed social integration, civic representation, and cultural diplomacy. His civic engagement includes serving as a District National Security Law Tutor, Area Committee Member, and Care Team volunteer in Hong Kong—evidence of his belief that civic responsibility is integral to social progress.
A lifelong humanitarian, Dr. Fakhrul's association with Rotary International—where he has served in various leadership roles and earned distinctions such as Paul Harris Fellow, Major Donor, and Global Goodwill Ambassador—underscores his philosophy of 'Service Above Self.' He is also a life member of the Bangladesh Red Crescent Society, supporting communities during crises and calamities.
Dr. Fakhrul's holistic approach to leadership—integrating faith, identity, commerce, and compassion—was especially praised by the award committee. His adoption of the Chinese name 孫逸仙 (Sun Yat-sen) serves as a personal homage to the values of reform, unity, and humanity.
> 'Dr. Fakhrul Islam Babu is not only a patron of change—he is its architect. His support of Talk Hope is a testament to his belief that every life matters, and every youth deserves a future filled with dignity, hope, and purpose,' the official award citation read.
In a time when mental health challenges continue to affect millions of young people, especially in developing nations, this international recognition highlights the urgent importance of compassionate leadership and cross-border solidarity.
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GE HealthCare projects reduced tariff expense
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'It is fixable, but it's not a quick or easy fix. You need to have skilled people, and you need to have the supplies.' According to the IPC, more than 20,000 children in Gaza were treated for acute malnutrition from April to mid-July, and more than 3,000 of them were severely malnourished. Gaza's health ministry said July 28 that nearly 150 people have died from malnutrition since the Israel-Gaza war began in October 2023, including at least 88 children. A desperate environment At the end of April, Dr. Aqsa Durrani, a physician and epidemiologist with a public health focus in humanitarian emergency response, returned to the U.S. after spending two months in Gaza with Médecins Sans Frontières, also known as Doctors Without Borders. She was there on March 2, when Israel reimposed a blockade on the Gaza Strip, preventing the entry of food, fuel, medicine, and other humanitarian aid. 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Once the body has used up all its stored carbs, it will start burning fat reserves and seek energy from the organs, muscles, and bones. Heart rate slows; blood pressure drops; body temperature declines.'The body is eating itself up to try to stay alive,' Frank says. Broken bones are common for children in this state. Malnutrition also weakens kids' immune systems, increasing the risk of infections like pneumonia, diarrhea, measles, and sepsis. While people can and do die from starvation, deaths are often caused by an infection, she adds. In the short term, malnourished kids suffer mentally and behaviorally as well as physically. 'They're irritable, they're lethargic, and they're apathetic,' Frank says. 'They look miserable, and that's exactly how they're feeling. In fact, when you're slowly feeding a malnourished child, what we talk about is the smile sign: when they get to the point where they can smile, you're on the way up.' Frank has worked with malnourished children who she initially worried were deaf or blind. 'They were so unresponsive when they were starving,' she recalls. 'Then you feed them, and indeed, this kid can hear and see. As they feel better, they start to interact and act much more normal,' but that recovery can take weeks or months. Health effects in adults Malnutrition affects adults in many of the same ways as it does children. 'When we think about how the body works, the initial stages of starvation will be the same for both men and women,' says Don Thushara Galbadage, an associate professor with the Harris College of Nursing and Health Sciences at Texas Christian University. In the first few weeks, 'they will experience fatigue, they will have muscle loss and muscle wasting, and they will have impaired cognition. And if it goes longer, some of their organ systems can malfunction and shut down.' 'We have seen, from case studies of starvation, that it takes up to 60 days before the body fully shuts down if the person has access to water,' Ahmed says. 'If you don't have access to water, you can die as quickly as three to five days.' People experiencing starvation are often unable to concentrate and don't have the energy to complete basic tasks, like getting out of bed or taking care of their children. 'If a mother is malnourished, all those tasks become incredibly hard to do,' Ahmed says. 'That leads to depression and mental-health issues, which also affect malnutrition—because if you have mental problems, you're unable to look after yourself and eat properly, even if food is available.' Plus, she says, many women are overwhelmed and distressed by the sound of their children crying out of hunger. Women who are pregnant or breastfeeding are especially vulnerable to the effects of starvation. 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For now, it's crucial to make sure as many people as possible have access to therapeutic nutrition support to help quell the immediate effects of starvation.'The priority right now is to keep as many people alive and get them to flourish again and get them back to a normal immune system,' Frank says, which can take a couple months in optimal conditions. 'But there's going to need to be long-term work for the children who survive, to decrease the chances of school failure, psychiatric disorder, and cardiovascular illness as they become adolescents and young adults.' A looming threat: refeeding syndrome When a child or adult has adapted to consuming very little food, they can't suddenly start eating a normal amount, even if supplies become available. Doing so could lead to a condition called refeeding syndrome, which causes a shift in fluids and electrolytes that can trigger cardiac arrhythmia, organ dysfunction, and death. 'On a less catastrophic level, you can get horrendous diarrhea and vomiting, which sets hydration back,' Frank says. 'It isn't just a matter of handing someone a box of cereal and saying, 'Go to it.' You have to be careful.' It can take doctors who are working with malnourished children up to 10 days to establish safe, consistent weight gain, Frank says. Typically, doctors provide kids with only a small portion of the calories they actually need based on their weight, while monitoring their physiology and stomach tolerance for a couple days. 'You gradually build up over time, first to the normal caloric needs, and then to the needs for catch-up growth,' she says. 'People who are caring for these kids need to know exactly what they're doing. The idea that you can parachute boxes of food on the babies' heads and then expect them to grow—it doesn't work like that.' Contact us at letters@ Solve the daily Crossword
The Hill
14 hours ago
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What does declaring famine mean, and why hasn't it been done in Gaza?
The deteriorating humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip is sparking global indignation, with a group of experts warning the war-torn enclave is on the brink of famine, if it hasn't already reached it. The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, or IPC — which is backed by the United Nations and major relief agencies — issued an alert Tuesday, contending 'the worst-case scenario of famine is currently playing out in the Gaza Strip.' But the alert does not formally designate famine in the territory. A famine rating would require three thresholds to be reached: at least 20 percent of households facing an extreme lack of food, at least 30 percent of children suffering from acute malnutrition and two people for every 10,000 dying per day due to outright starvation or to the interaction of malnutrition and disease, according to the IPC. Experts have not been able to corroborate the latter as it would require gathering data in Gaza, which it cannot access due to severe restrictions imposed by Israeli authorities following Hamas's attack on Oct. 7, 2023. Israel maintains it is not responsible for the hunger crisis, despite restricting aid into Gaza at times throughout the conflict. The Israeli government justified a full blockade of aid in March on the basis that Hamas would otherwise steal the supplies. The militant group has rejected this claim. More than 100 aid organizations, including Médecins Sans Frontières and Save the Children, have accused Israel of causing 'mass starvation' by shutting its land crossings for months while tons of food, clean water, medical supplies, shelter items and fuel sits idle at the border. Since May, Israel has allowed some aid back into Gaza, but aid agencies assert that the amounts are woefully insufficient. Distribution sites run by the U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation have been wracked by fatal violence. A spokesperson for a United Nations human rights body said in mid-July that, by then, 875 people had been killed while seeking aid in Gaza, including 674 'in the vicinity of GHF sites.' Recent weeks have seen a rise in international condemnation of Israel's policies as malnutrition in Gaza has grown more dire. At least one person in three in Gaza is going without food for days at a time, according to the IPC, and at least 16 children under the age of five have died from 'hunger-related causes' since mid-July. In response, the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement Monday it would continue to work with international aid agencies, as well as the U.S. and European nations, 'to ensure that large amounts of humanitarian aid flows into the Gaza Strip.' 'As part of this effort, Israel paused IDF operations in key populated areas of Gaza from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. every day and designated secure routes from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. that will ensure the safe passage of more convoys delivering aid,' the statement read. President Trump, asked point-blank on Monday if he agrees with Netanyahu's assessment that there is no starvation in Gaza, said, 'Based on television, I would say not particularly.' 'Some of those kids, that's real starvation stuff. I see it. You can't fake that,' Trump acknowledged while on a visit to Scotland, adding, 'We have to get the kids fed.'
