The maternal and child death rates and waterborne diseases marked substantial reduction
following laudable improvement in health services, sanitation and pure drinking water
coverage in the country.
“The under-5 children mortality rate has reduced to only 53 now among every 1,000
against 88 in 2003 while maternal mortality rate dipped to 194 per every 100,000 against
over 230 a decade ago,” Rangpur Divisional Director (Health) Dr Shahadat Hossain said.
Besides, spread of water-borne diseases such as diarrhoea, cholera, dysentery, jaundice
and others have almost disappeared now.
According to the experts, the success has been achieved following hectic efforts of
the present government in providing health services and creating awareness on health,
hygiene and nutrition-related issues among rural people in recent years.
Recurrence of water borne diseases, maternal and child death rates have decreased
following the government’s pro-people health policy and awareness building activities
being conducted for rural people through GO-NGO collaboration, they said.
Health workers of different GO-NGOs, health and family welfare centres, union health
sub-centres and community clinics are playing vital role along with efforts of the WHO
and UNICEF in the process of attaining the millennium development goals (MDGs).
The government has been working to achieve all set targets of the MDGs by 2015 and
ensure sanitary latrine for all citizens through hectic efforts jointly with the NGOs,
development partners and other organisations, they said.
To achieve the set targets of total sanitation coverage, the Department of Public Health
Engineering (DPHE) completed implementation of a project “National Sanitation Project
(NSP)” in two phases by June this year. -BSS, Rangpur
