Bangladesh Health Profile 2012

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Bangladesh ,The Pharmaceutical Market

It is a riverine country with low, flat land and a tropical climate. It has an economy that is easily burdened by external economic shocks and high inflation rates. It has an extremely high population density (about 140 million people living in an area of 147 570 sq.km), a low resource base, suffers frequent natural disasters, and is already feeling the brunt of climate change.
Health is regarded as a basic right in the constitution. The current health sector programme, and all previous ones, implemented so far, has given special emphasis to vulnerable groups, and had a pro-poor focus. Since 1998, the national health programmes have adopted a sector-wide approach (SWAp).

HEALTH & DEVELOPMENT

Bangladesh has made considerable progress in recent decades in improving the health of its people. The population growth rate has declined, life expectancy at birth has increased, infant and under-five mortality rates have decreased, and a demographic transition is beginning to emerge. Health services are moving steadily from the age-old, free public services to for-profit private services. Public health provisions are now mainly concentrating on services for the lower quintile of the population and there is emphasis on improving equity in access to care.

Health of Vulnerable Groups: Women, Children, Adolescents and the Elderly Child health in general has been improving, though neonatal and maternal mortality remains unacceptably high. Nearly half of pregnant women suffer from malnutrition and anaemia, and the proportion of deliveries assisted by skilled personnel was low (13.4%). Malnutrition continues to be a serious problem in children and adolescents, especially girls. In addition, risky sexual behaviour is common among youth (10- 25 years).

Disease Burden: Communicable and Noncommunicable Diseases Considerable progress has been made in communicable diseases control, but noncommunicable diseases(NCD) are showing a rising trend. Among communicable diseases of concern are malaria, tuberculosis, vaccine preventable diseases, HIV/AIDS, endemic diseases such as kala-azar and emerging diseases like avian influenza. Unhealthy lifestyle, tobacco use, and an ageing population have contributed to the increased burden of NCDs.

Environmental Health

Ensuring safe drinking water is a major challenge but the recent introduction of water safety plans will help develop preventive management capacity. Access to sanitation has increased steadily but adoption of appropriate hygiene practices has been slow. Climate change is a great concern and needs a multi-sectoral approach. Indoor air pollution, food safety, occupational health and safety, and health care waste are also important issues.
Emergency Preparedness and Response for Disasters  Bangladesh is prone to natural disasters including cyclones, floods and tornadoes. Improved disaster preparedness including early warning systems and provision of cyclone shelters in costal areas have led to substantial reduced mortality from cyclones and tidal bores in recent years.

Health System’s Response Health system performance has been improving setadily in recent years. However, governance and stewardship functions are not adequate to make the services efficient and equitable. In addition, the total health expenditure is not sufficient to scale-up interventions needed for improvement. There are chronic shortages, mal-distribution and imbalances in the skill-mix of the health work-force.

OPPORTUNITIES 

• The existence of SWAp health programmes with particular emphasis on the vulnerable and propoor
• International donors are providing funds to the pool fund under the SWAp health programme
• Increasing voluntary contribution funds to expand WHO activities to meet health challenges

CHALLENGES

• Reducing under-five and maternal deaths
• Combating major communicable diseases
• Containing the increasing trend of major NCDs and reversing the trend
• Ensuring equitable and sustainable access to safe water supply and sanitation, and promoting environmental and occupational health
• Strengthening epidemic alert, emergency preparedness and response
• Enhancing health system's responsiveness for equitable access to quality health care, fairness in health care financing, and improved governance and stewardship of the health sector
• Strengthening human resources for health
• development