As anticipated, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has officially declared Bangladesh to be polio free, following the required number of years with no cases.
The country’s achievement in eradicating this life-threatening disease ahead of neighbouring countries such as India and Nepal, reaffirms its steady progress in meeting Millennium Development Goals.
While this is good news for Bangladesh, we must also urgently attend to other crucial problems in order to help long-term economic development. There is still much to be done to improve the state of our human capital and public health.
According to UNICEF, Bangladesh has one of the highest rates of malnutrition in the world. Around 41 percent of Bangladeshi children under the age of 5 suffer from stunting due to chronic malnutrition. The impact of such a large proportion of the populace being unable to achieve their full physical potential, impacts negatively on peoples’ lives in many ways, and needs to be overcome .
The main cause of malnutrition in the country this is not necessarily a lack of available nutritious food but low levels of awareness about which foods are most helpful and necessary for good nutrition.
Tackling problems such as malnutrition will not require expensive development programmes, but will require better education and planning by the government so that everyone can better utilise the resources that are already available.
Improving public health is a key building block for raising living standards and remains a key priority for the country.
Source: Dhaka Tribune
